Forever and Always
by Hershey Kiss Lover
Summary: Seventeen year old Bella Swan has led her life alone and unloved. Soon after starting college, her life seems to be on the mend ... until someone from her past starts stalking her. AU/AH. ExB JxA EmxR
1. Prologue  Alone

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Title:** Forever and Always

**Summary:** Bella Swan has led her life alone and unloved by everyone. When she starts her freshman year at college, she meets the Cullen's and Hale's, a group of friends that show her the meaning of love and family. But when someone from her past starts stalking her, her life is turned upside-down … once again. All Human, Alternate Universe. All normal pairings.

Prologue – Alone

_Bella Swan_

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I remembered that I had opened my eyes slowly that night. My head had been pounding, I remember, pounding so badly I thought it would burst. Where was I?

All I could see was a plain, tan ceiling. All I could hear was a beeping noise – an annoying, continuous beeping noise.

I remembered that, as my eyes focused on my surroundings, I realized that I was in a room with plain white walls and two chairs, a table, and machines. I remembered that there had been a bed to my right.

Then I remembered what happened – vaguely, but still clear as day in my mind.

We'd been driving home from dinner at La Bella, my mother, Renee, and my father, Charlie, and I. It had been storming out, I knew, and I was holding close to my chest the old, ragged teddy bear – Mr. Fuzz – I had had since the day I was born.

I remembered it had been dark. Charlie, my father, had been fiddling with the radio and hadn't seen the deer up ahead.

From there on, I don't really remember anything, except a sharp pain in my wrist, the squealing of the tires and then … blackness. Absolute … blackness.

Then I was in a soft, warm bed.

In the hospital.

Were my parents okay?

A nurse walked in, disrupting me from my thoughts. She saw that I was awake and came over. "Oh, you're awake. You've been out a couple of days," she said. She held something in her hand.

"What happened?" I whispered.

The nurse – I remembered that her name was Heather. She was very sweet and kind – got a sad look in her eyes and she said, "You'll have to ask the doctor that himself. I'll go tell him you're awake."

I remembered that she was halfway to the door when she stopped and turned, coming back over to the bedside. "Is this yours? It was found in your coat." In her hand was Mr. Fuzz.

It was that day I had found out my parents had died in the car crash … along with the deer. Renee and Charlie had been at the hospital for a half hour before they passed away.

I was seven when they died. They hadn't been able to escape, yet I had managed to escape with only a broken wrist.

After I was released from the hospital, I was placed in Social Services until I was ten years old when they put me through foster care homes. I didn't last long in each; no one seemed to … want me. I bounced from home to home faster than a bouncing ball.

I never made any friends. I didn't talk to many people, only teachers. I never told anyone what happened to my parents.

For some reason, I was really smart – it didn't help any that I had nerdy-looking reading glasses – and had skipped a grade. I graduated high school four months before my 17th birthday.

You know how when people always tell you that life doesn't really start until you graduate high school, and you're ready to move on and go out into the world because you're ready? Well, half of that's true … for me, at least.

When I received my packet for Seattle University, I had no idea _what_ to expect. And there was no way that I had been prepared for the 'life changing experiences college gives you' that waited for me when I was barely seventeen years old ….

… And barely old enough to be on my own.

**Author's Note:** _Well, there you have it – the Prologue. First chapter is already written, and will be coming your way very soon. Please review and tell me what you think and if I should continue! _

_See you next chapter! _

_Hershey Kiss Lover._


	2. The Cullen's

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

Chapter One – The Cullen's

_**Bella Swan**_ _Ten Years Later_

I made my way to Tennath Hall, where my dorm was located. I had two duffle bags on each of my shoulders and another shoulder bag – that I used to use for high school – was across my chest.

After walking up two flights of steps, I arrived at my dorm room, #314. I twisted that doorknob and found it was locked. I took the key my freshman guidance counselor had given me, unlocked it, and stepped inside.

The dorm room was medium size. There was a bed on one wall across from the door, and there was another bed to the right of the door. The walls were painted a plain white. From where I was standing, I could see that there was a closet, two desks and two dressers that were beside each bed. Another door was to the left of the door, and I could only assume that it lead to a bathroom.

I brought my bags to the bed to the right of the door and set them down on it. I let out a breath and sat down on the bed, looking around.

My parents were happy for me, I knew that. I could feel that they were watching me from heaven at that moment, smiling down at me.

My hand traveled to my collarbone, where my mother's old locket lay. It was an old locket; the silver oval that hung from the thin silver chain had been passed down for generations through my mother's family. The doctor that had treated me all those years ago had said that before Renee died, she had told him to give me her necklace when I regained consciousness. I hadn't taken it off since.

"I made it here," I said. "I'll do my best to make you proud." _I just hope I'll fit in here_, I added to myself.

I pulled my attention once again to my dorm room, not wanting to open the old wounds.

I had sent my stuff ahead, and the two boxes were sitting on my bed. One I had filled with my comforter and bed sheets and my pillow, and the other one I had filled with my zip-up sweaters and towels. The other one I filled with personal possessions.

Just as I opened the box with the bed sheets and comforter, a short girl with spikey black hair danced into the room. She almost looked like a little pixie.

She smiled when she saw me. "Hi! You must be my roommate, am I correct?" she asked, dancing over to me with a huge grin on her face.

"Uh," I said. "I think so."

"Great! I can already tell that we're going to get along very well! I'm Alice Cullen! Are you a freshman, too? I am," she said, reaching out her hand in greeting.

I allowed a teeny smile to come to my face. "It's nice to meet you," I said in my always soft voice. "I'm Isabella Swan, but I'm mostly called Bella. And yeah, I'm a freshman as well," I added as I shook her hand.

There was a knock on the door then and a very pretty woman with caramel hair entered the room. She was carrying a box just like Alice had been. "Is this your room, Alice?" she asked.

Alice turned around. "Yeah, this is it. Mom, this is my roommate, Bella Swan. Bella, this is my mom, Esme."

Esme smiled warmly at me after she set the box down on the floor. She held out a hand in greeting. "It's nice to meet you, Bella," she said as I shook her hand.

I blushed a little, nervously; I was always shy when I met new people. "It's nice to meet you, too," I said softly.

"Are Emmett and Edward all unpacked yet? They've both been here for a few days," Alice asked of her mother.

"You're father is going to see if they've unpacked and settled into their dorms yet. He should here soon," Esme replied.

"Emmett and Edward are my brothers," Alice explained to me. "Emmett's a sophomore here and Edward's a freshman, like you and me. I think you'd like him."

I blushed. "I'm not really into boys."

"I'm sure you'll see them around. Actually, I'll introduce you," Alice said, a big grin on her face.

I smiled. "Okay." Alice grinned back.

I had only been here for an hour, and I only known Alice for all of five minutes, but I got this feeling in the back of my mind that I had just made a friend for life.

~o~

For the next hour, Alice and I unpacked.

I could immediately tell that Alice had a love for fashion; she had a ton of clothes, and everything in the dorm room that was hers was glittery, or very pretty or different bright colors.

It took me about a half hour to unpack everything that was mine and another fifteen minutes to get everything set up. I didn't have very many clothes, and they all fit neatly in my dresser.

The whole time we were unpacking, Alice talked about what she thought classes were going to be like. At one point she told me she was majoring in fashion designing. Then she asked me, "What are you majoring in?"

"Painting and photography," I said, blushing.

When we were all done unpacking, we stood back to admire our work, satisfied we had managed to make the dorm room a little more homey.

"So, we have one and a half days before classes start, and we have that time to do whatever we want to before manual labor starts. I have an hour before I had to meet Jasper and the gang. Hey, do you want to come with me and have supper with the rest of the gang?" Alice asked.

I turned my head to look at the pixie next to me. Was she seriously asking me to have dinner with her and whoever she had been talking about? A smile came to my face. "Uh, sure."

Alice grinned. "Great! I promised I'd meet them at the cafeteria at 6. I have no idea where it is and I think I misplaced my map somewhere."

"Oh, here," I said, taking the map of the school off my desk and handing it to her.

"Thanks," Alice said.

After a second, she said, "You know what, Bella, I think we're turning into very good friends, don't you?"

I smiled. "I think so, too."

~o~

We managed to get to the cafeteria getting lost only once. By the time we got to the campus cafeteria, it was quarter past 6.

Alice scanned the numerous tables, obviously searching for someone in particular. After a few seconds, she said, "Ah! Come on, Bella! I want you to meet the gang!"

She grabbed my hand over to a table at the back, where four college students were sitting. "Hi, Jazzy!" she said, sitting down next to the one with blonde hair and kissing him on the cheek. I stood there awkwardly for a second before Alice said, "Bella, this is the gang; Jasper and Rosalie Hale, and Emmett and Edward Cullen. Emmett and Edward are my brothers." She pointed to each one individually as she said their names.

"Hi," I said softly, blushing lightly.

"Well, sit, sit," Alice said, gesturing towards the only empty seat, which was next to the bronze-haired boy. Edward, I think his name is.

Blushing deeper, I sat down.

"So, you're Alice's roommate?" the dark, curly-haired boy, Emmett, asked. I nodded, blushing again.

Emmett grinned as Jasper, the blonde-haired one, asked, "Are you a Freshman?"

For the third time in two minutes, I blushed. "Yes," I said. "I'm guessing the rest of you – besides Alice – are sophomores?"

The other blonde, Rosalie, answered. "Yeah, except Edward. He's a freshman, like you and Alice." There was almost sort of a … coldness to her voice. Did she not like me or something?

I remained quiet for most of the time I was around the gang, only listening to their conversation. After a bit, I warmed a little toward them, and I began to talk more. I could tell that the little group of friends instantly liked me, like Alice when she had first met me. They seemed to like and accept me for who I was, shy and quiet as I was.

By the end of the night, I learned a bit about the Cullen's and the Hale's. They had all known each other since they were babies, and were the best of friends. Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett were all 19, in their second year of college. Alice was dating Jasper, and Emmett was dating Rosalie. Alice and Edward were both 18 years old, and Alice had been adopted. They had all moved to Forks, Washington from Anchorage, Alaska two years before.

Forks, Washington. The same town where my parents had died.

"So, Bella, where do you live?" asked Edward, the beautiful bronze-haired boy who sat next to me.

This was the first time he had spoken directly to me all night, so it kind of took me by surprise when he said my name. His voice was so melodic, so musical, that it sounded breathtaking. His piercing green eyes were bright with curiosity when he asked me the question.

So when I turned to look at him, my heart skipped a beat, and I almost forgot how to breathe. It took me a few seconds to realize that a blush was creeping onto my face. "Uh, well, I … I was originally born in Forks, but I … moved around a lot after I was seven," I said, suppressing a wince from old memories. "I moved to Port Angeles when I was fifteen, and I stayed there for a couple years until I finished high school."

I saw Alice's eyebrows knit together in confusion as she looked at me. "Wait, if you only stayed in Port Angeles for only a couple years before you finished high school, then that means you are how old?" It merely a question of curiosity.

I blushed again, deeper this time, looking down at the table. "Sixteen … I skipped 11th grade, and that caused me to graduate early."

Jasper and Emmett let out a low whistle, looking impressed, and Alice as well, looked impressed. Edward looked amazed and looked at me, awed. I blushed. I really had to work on my blushing.

"Wow. You must be really smart, then. What are you majoring in?" Jasper asked.

"Painting and photography," I said, beginning to feel more comfortable again. "But I'm thinking about becoming a photographer after college."

I didn't know how, but I was beginning to feel a tight connection between myself and my roommate and the others sitting at the table. What was weird, though, was that every time I looked at Edward, or he looked at me or asked me a question, my heart would flutter and I would forget to breathe for a few seconds.

Was it just my mind, or was I beginning to think that there was something more than just friendship blossoming?

**Author's Note:** _There you go – chapter one. I really hope you enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the prologue! It keeps me writing and it makes me really happy! _

_Please review on your way out! _

_Until next chapter, Hershey Kiss Lover._


	3. Upset

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone who reviewed. They are _mucho appreciato_! Enjoy this chapter and review at the end!

Chapter Two – Upset

_**Alice Cullen**_

The next morning my eyes slowly opened when the sound of murmuring registered in my brain, making me wake up. The alarm clock that was on my dresser read 6:30 a.m. Light was just beginning to seep through the window shade.

My brain registered where the murmuring was coming from, and I turned my head to face the other side of the room, where Bella's bed was.

Bella was curled into a tight ball, scrunching up her light blue blanket. She was murmuring something softly, too low for me to hear. Then she turned over, and continued murmuring.

Was she having a nightmare?

Then the alarm on her phone went off, and she bolted upright, breathing ragged, deep breaths. She closed her eyes for a moment, then reopened them, her fingers grasping the silver locket around her neck.

And then she saw that I was awake, and said, "Morning, Alice."

"Morning," I replied. "Are you okay?"

Confusion appeared in Bella's chocolate brown eyes, then realization. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I'm okay." Her voice sounded a bit squeaky.

I raised my eyebrows as I sat up, but let it slide. "Okay, if you're sure."

Bella nodded, her slightly tousled brown hair bobbing a little as she did. "I'm sure. I, uh, I'm going to go for a run. I'll be back soon." She got out of bed and grabbed a pair of black running pants and a gray T-shirt and went into the bathroom.

A moment later, she came back out and grabbed an old looking pair of sneakers from the floor beside her bed and an MP3 player from her desk drawer. The she waved good-bye to me and went quietly through the door.

I stared at the closed door for a moment, thinking about the day before, when I'd first met her.

When I had arrived at the dorm room, I had found myself face to face with a pretty and beautiful girl, who looked to be about a year younger than I. Her beautiful mahogany brown hair hung straight to just under her small shoulders, and it contrasted perfectly with her pale skin.

Her frame was small, slender, but not really muscular. She had a sweet, heart shaped face and full lips. She was skinny, but not too skinny; she had the perfect body build that any normal girl would want.

In all, she was very beautiful. Her eyes especially. Her wide, warm, chocolate brown eyes were bright and alight with eagerness. But whenever you looked deep into her eyes, you could see the clearly evident pain and sadness, cleverly hidden behind the curiousness and eagerness.

It made me wonder.

Here was Bella Swan, the shy, quiet, sweet, ridiculously polite and kind girl, who was obviously hiding something deep in her chest.

_Was _she hiding something?

Was that 'something' making her toss and turn and murmur in her sleep?

I had found living with Bella was easy. Even though she was quiet a lot of the time, she was real easy to talk to. When she did speak, it was soft, quiet, innocent sounding.

I already considered Bella as my best friend. I highly doubted that she had any friends while growing up; she had said that she had moved around a lot after she was seven.

There was something bothering Bella, I was sure of it. I was usually correct in assuming something was bothering somebody, and there was definitely something bothering her. I could see the unhappiness.

I was going to find out as soon as Bella came back from running. We could go get some breakfast and I could ask her then.

I got out of bed grinning almost smugly. Thrilled about my plan, I got my things for the shower.

~o~

_**Bella Swan**_

The cool morning air calmed me as I ran down the path in the campus park. The run made me relax and – almost – forget about my nightmare.

I was still dreaming of the night Charlie and Renee died. I wasn't sure why I dreamed about that night still ten years later.

The soft sound of Claire de Lune filled my head, erasing the images in my mind. I was grateful for this; I hated reliving the night my life changed.

As I ran down the path, I wasn't paying attention to anything, so it startled me when I ran into something hard, almost knocking me to the ground.

"I'm so sor-." I cut off when I saw who I had run into. I straightened, my face pulling into a tense glare. "James."

The eighteen year old before me grinned. "It's so nice to see you again, Bella. Miss me?"

My glare intensified. "What the heck do you think you're doing here? Why are you here?"

"Aww, don't be like that, Bells. Don't you miss your old friend?" James asked.

"I was never your friend," I spat. Anger was beginning to bubble inside me.

He grinned again. "I see you managed to safely get here to this … college." He spit out the word like it was a nasty word.

"Yes. Now, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I just wanted to see you. I miss us," he said, reaching forward to run a hand down my arm.

I yanked it away. "There never _was_ an _us_, James," I spat. "You just like to think that there was an us so that everybody else would think that you managed to crack Bella Swan from her shell. Well, guess what. I got news for you – you didn't."

"Why are you being like this?" James hissed, now beginning to get angry.

I backed a few steps away. "Get off campus, James. Go back to Port Angeles where you belong."

"Not if you don't come with me. Please, Bella, you don't belong in college. You're never going to make friends here." James was stepping closer to me, but I kept backing away.

I continued glaring at him. "I've made friends."

"They're going to abandon you like your parents left you. You'll be alone again in the world," James said, his tone almost condescending.

I could feel the tears begin to rise in my eyes. "Don't talk about my parents. They would have wanted me to make friends. And they didn't abandon me; they died in a car accident."

James laughed. "If you say so. Now, what's your answer – stay here with freaks like you, or come with me where you can be in civilization … with me?"

I kept my glare on him. "My parents wanted me to go to college. I'm here, and I want to stay."

"Whatever, Bella. Remember – if you tell _any_one that I was here, then I'll kill you." James was hissing by now.

With those words, he turned and walked away.

I stood there for several moments, trying to catch my breath and calm down the hysteria that was rising with me. I breathed in several deep breaths. Tears stung in my eyes.

And then I turned around, fully intent on heading back to the dorm. But, of course, with my klutziness, I tripped over a rock in the path and stumbled forward.

However, before I could make contact with the ground, I felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around me.

"Thanks," I said, turning around and coming face to face with … Edward Cullen. A blush crept onto my face.

Edward smiled a crooked smile, causing my heart to skip a beat. "You're welcome. So what are you doing out here so early in the morning?"

I shrugged. "I needed to clear my head, and running always helps. What about you?"

His crooked smile became wider. "When you dorm with two guys like Emmett and Jasper, it's kind of good to get out of the dorm for a bit early in the morning."

I chuckled. "It must be interesting rooming with them."

Edward snorted. "They're just … Emmett and Jasper. You should really see them at Thanksgiving and Christmas."

I laughed.

Then his smile faltered a bit and turned into a worried expression. "Um, are you okay, Bella? You look pale."

"Hmm?" I asked, a blush creeping into my cheeks. "Oh, yeah, I'm just … having a bad morning that's all."

Edward raised his eyebrows, obviously not believing me. "Okay. It's just … I saw you arguing with that guy a moment ago, and you look kind of upset."

"I'm fine. I gotta go. I'll see you around," I said.

And then I turned and walked away.

As I walked away, I realized that, even though we had spoken just briefly, I had felt an odd sense of security when I had with him. It was weird; when I had been encountered by James, I felt insecure. But as soon as I saw Edward's face, I felt a peace settle over me, and all the insecurity wash away.

I hurried faster toward the dorm, beginning to feel the insecurity wash over me again. My breathing became labored, and tears began to burn behind my eyes.

I tore up the stair case to the second floor of Tennath Hall and hurried to my room.

I burst through the door and closed it behind me. I leaned against it, breathing hard.

"Bella?"

Alice stuck her head out of the bathroom door. She caught sight of my face – which must have looked terrible – and gasped, "Are you alright, Bella?"

I took a deep shaky breath and nodded my head. "I'm good."

The black haired pixie looked unconvinced however and asked, "Are you sure?"

I nodded quickly and grabbed a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and some underclothes from my dresser. "I'm fine. I'm just a little bit out of breath that's all. Don't worry."

_**Alice Cullen**_

I stared at the closed bathroom door, a whole lot more worried for my roommate than I had been this morning.

Something was definitely up.

My phone rang and I went to grab it. "Hello?"

"Alice? It's Edward. Does Bella kind of seem a little … I don't know, nervous this morning?" came Edward's voice.

"Yeah, she does. She was murmuring in her sleep last night and then she came back from running a couple minutes ago and she looked all pale and shaky," I said.

"I ran into her a few minutes ago. She seemed really upset," my brother said.

"I know. I think that something is bothering her. And I plan on finding out what, because it seems to really be bothering her."

"I think you should," Edward said.

"Okay. Bye, Edward," I said, and flipped my phone shut.

Something was bothering Bella, and I was going to find out what.

**Author's Note:** Hmm.. What do think could be going on with Bella?

Next Chapter: Alice learns about Bella's past.

Review please!

See you next time! Hershey Kiss Lover.


	4. Telling Alice

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone who reviewed! It meant so much to me to get some reviews. In this chapter we'll be learning about Bella's past. I worked a lot on this chapter, so I hope you really like it!

Chapter Three – Telling Alice

_**Bella Swan**_

The second I stepped out of the bathroom a half hour later, dressed in my faded, dark blue jeans and an old T-shirt, Alice handed me my old pair of Chuck Taylor sneakers saying, "Put your shoes on. We're going to go get breakfast and go shopping."

Not wanting to protest because of the look in Alice's eyes, I put my shoes on and followed her out the door.

We went to the cafeteria, got breakfast, and I followed Alice to a table in the corner of the cafeteria. I could tell that something with Alice was up, but I didn't say anything.

I picked at my food for a few moments – I wasn't really hungry – until Alice said, "So, tell me."

I looked at her. She was sitting across the table from me, a serious expression on her face. "Tell you what?"

"Tell me about yourself," she said, taking a sip of her orange juice.

"My life isn't very interesting. You'd be bored within the first two or so sentences," I said.

Alice raised her eyebrows, skeptic. "Try me."

Sighing, I gave up and asked, "What do you want to know?"

"Everything. Tell me why such a beautiful, young girl such as you doesn't really seem happy. Bella, you have such beautiful brown eyes, but they never seem … happy. I can see the pain cleverly hidden behind the curiosity and eagerness. Why is that?" Alice seemed deadly serious. I could see it in her eyes. But I could also see the worry – for me.

I took a deep breath and said, "I was born on September 13, 1987. I lived in Forks, Washington with my parents, Charlie and Renee. My parents and I had been driving back home from celebrating my seventh birthday, eating dinner at La Bella. Do you know that place?"

Alice nodded. "We've been there a few times."

"My father, Charlie, had been driving. It was stormy that night – pouring, thunder and lightning, the whole shebang. Charlie, he … he didn't see the deer until it was too late."

Alice gasped and grabbed my hand, but not speaking, waiting for me to continue.

"They died on my seventh birthday. I escaped with only a broken wrist. I was put in Social Services until I was ten, then I was put through Foster Care. I never stayed longer than five months in each of them. Finally, when I was fifteen, I was placed back at the Social Services. I had skipped a couple grades, and ended up graduating a few months ago, when I was still sixteen. Now, I'm here," I said, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.

"Oh, Bella. I am so sorry," Alice whispered.

I shrugged. "It's okay."

I was silent for a couple seconds more before I said, "I never really made any friends. The friends I did make lasted for only four or five days. I was always the "extremely smart, nerdy girl" everybody hated. I hoped that college would be … a more better experience than high school."

I took another deep breath, preparing myself mentally for the second to worst information I was going to tell Alice. "When I was ten, the first foster home they put me into was a home one would think looked perfect from the outside."

"And … I'm guessing it wasn't?" Alice asked softly.

I shook my head. "The family neglected me. They fed me food, and water to drink, but they didn't feel like a family. After four and a half months, I finally left, and walked from Hoquiam back to Port Angeles. For five straight years, I stayed in about twenty three homes – all of which didn't care for me.

"The last one I was at, there was this boy – about two years older than I – named James. He tried to make me his girlfriend, but I bluntly refused. I hated him with every fiber in my being. Countless times he beat me – and his parents didn't do anything about it. I was too scared to call Social Services, or the police. Then I got enough gumption to run away, and I got placed again in Social Services. I stayed there, after I finally told them about all the families who neglected and beated me."

Tears were streaming down my face by then and I wiped them away.

Alice's eyes were filled with tears. "Oh, Bella. No wonder why you were murmuring in your sleep this morning."

I nodded, keeping my gaze upon the brown wooden table.

"I can't believe that happened to you. You're such a sweet, innocent girl who is ridiculously polite and kind. You didn't deserve that at all," Alice said.

I remained silent. Then I said, "You know when I came back from running?" She nodded. "Why I was so shaky and pale was because I had … encountered James. He showed up on the campus."

Alice's mouth dropped open. "He didn't try to do anything to you … did he?"

Shaking my head I said, "No. I guess he got out of jail. He got arrested for abusing and beating me."

Alice shook her head in disgust. "The dude should be in jail! He doesn't deserve to live! Do I have permission to wring his neck if I ever get the pleasure of meeting him?"

"Be my guest," I said.

Alice was silent for a moment, and then said, "Bella? I'm glad you told me. Please know that I'm here to talk to if you ever need to talk to someone, alright?"

I smiled slightly, and Alice grinned back at me. "Thanks, Alice. I'm glad I told you, too."

Alice grabbed my hand again and I placed my hand over hers. It was then I felt an instant connection and I knew I had just made a _best_ friend for life.

"Hey, Alice?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you … not tell anyone else what I told you?" I asked.

Alice raised her eyebrows. "Okay, I promise. I can tell that this is a story you need to tell people yourself … when you're ready."

I nodded.

"So … shopping?" Alice asked, chipperness annoyingly evident in her voice. "Don't take offense, Bella, but you really need to update your wardrobe. You only have 3 pairs of jeans, several T-shirts, and two long-sleeved shirts, plus only a couple zip-up sweaters."

I rolled my eyes. "My wardrobe is fine, thank you very much."

"Please?" begged Alice.

I sighed. "Fine, but only if I get to stick with clothes that I like, okay?"

Alice giggled. "Okay, deal."

~o~

For the next four hours, Alice and I shopped at the local mall. I got dragged into different stores, and in the end, I had managed to acquire four more pairs of jeans that I surprisingly loved, and several more tops.

Alice insisted on paying for everything, and I tried to convince her to let me pay her back, but she had told me that there was no need.

By the time we stopped for lunch, in all we had eight bags, three of which were mine. From the instant I met Alice, I had a feeling that she loved shopping. Boy, was I right.

"Okay, you now have a fully Alice/Bella approved wardrobe, and I have new school clothes!" Alice chirped as we sat down at one of the table in the mall food court.

I let out a deep breath, sitting back in my plastic chair. "I think you have an entire wardrobe for the entire year! I have never seen someone shop as much as you do."

Alice laughed. "You should see the shopping Rosalie and I do together. We've gotten a lot more than this combined."

I blinked, looking at the eight bags on the floor and the other two chairs at the table. "Oh, wow. I hate even visualizing it!"

Alice laughed. "That was the boys' first reaction when Rosalie and I first brought home fifteen bags the first time. You haven't seen anything … yet!"

_**Alice Cullen**_

Even after five hours when Bella told me about her past, I was still shocked, worried, and unbelievably sorry for Bella.

How could such a sweet, sweet young girl like her get taken away from her parents like that when she was just seven years old? And on her birthday, too?

Why had she – Bella Swan – been given to foster care homes with people who never actually wanted her? I found that absolutely wrong and cruel and definitely against the law.

We arrived back at the dorm room at quarter past two. By the end of our shopping trip, we had acquired twelve bags in all. Bella was shocked at how much we had bought, and had tried once again to convince me to let her pay me back, but I had bluntly refused, saying that it would make me happy seeing the clothes on her.

As soon as all the clothes were put away, I asked, "Bella? Have you ever dated anyone?"

Bella almost dropped the drawing pad she was holding. She shook her head. "Nope. As I said yesterday, I've never really been into boys. And after James … forget it."

"Do you think you'll ever date someone?" I asked.

There was a slight blush creeping up onto Bella's cheeks as she said, "Maybe. I don't know. I never really feel safe around anyone, except with you and your family and Jasper and Rosalie. So, probably not."

I smiled sympathetically. "You can trust us, Bella. Here, give me your phone, and I can put my number into your contacts."

Bella took her phone from her pocket and handed it to me, and I gave her mine. I quickly programmed Emmett's, Jasper's, Edward's, Rosalie's and my cell numbers into her contact list and gave it back to her.

"I programmed mine, Emmett's, Edward's, Jasper's and Rosalie's cell numbers into your list. You can call me or Edward or Jasper or Emmett or Rosalie if you ever need help, okay? If James is bothering you, don't hesitate to call if you need rescuing," I said.

A soft, grateful smile appeared on Bella's lips. "Thanks, Alice." And then she hugged me.

I was a little shocked for a few seconds, but I relaxed and hugged her back, tightly.

**Author's Note:** _Who's liking Alice as a roommate? Raise of hands? Anyone? I hope everybody liked this chapter. Please, please, please, please review and I might just put up another chapter tomorrow.._

_Next Chapter: You'll have to review to find out..!_

_See you next time! Hershey Kiss Lover_

_**NEXT CHAPTER:**_

I looked up, expecting to see Edward or Alice. Much to my disappointment, the world's most annoying person was standing there.

"James," I said, glaring at him for all it was worth.

"Enjoying college, Bella?"


	5. Confrontation

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I was so happy to open my e-mail and see all of the favorite alerts and story alerts! So far this story has gotten over 500 hits! It makes me SO happy!

I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please read and review!

Chapter Four – Confrontation

_**Bella Swan**_

The first day of classes – which were the next day – Alice and I found out that our schedules were pretty much the same for the whole week, except for the classes that we were majoring in.

On Monday's, Wednesday's, and Thursday's, my classes began at 7:45 and ended at 12:40. On Tuesday's, my classes started at 12:40. On Tuesday's, my classes started at 8:10, and ended at 12:15. Alice's schedule was the same, only she had – all but one – different classes than me and she had class on Friday.

The first week of classes was good. By the second day, I had developed a routine and had fallen into it easily. I found that I actually like college, and I was very good in it; I found it very easy. Alice was fascinated by my painting, and kept telling me how wonderful a painter I was.

Alice, the gang, and I met every day at the cafeteria for lunch. Each day, I got more and more comfortable around Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and Edward. Even though I was still quiet, I was beginning to talk more.

Edward, especially, I was getting more comfortable. Whenever I saw him walking down the hall, I would feel my heart skip one or two beats. Alice always told me that my face would light up whenever we were around them, and I would blush whenever I spoke his name. I always denied this, but I got a feeling in my chest that I somehow like him more than a friend.

A week into September – about a week and a half after classes started – was when I found out that the date of my birthday had leaked into the minds of Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and Edward. The topic was brought up during lunch on Wednesday afternoon.

"So, Bella, your birthday is coming up soon, right? The 13th?" Jasper asked.

I raised my eyebrows. "Yeah. Why do you want to know?"

"What do you plan on doing that day?" Jasper asked. "It is your birthday, after all."

The wounds in my chest began slowly opening up, and I suppressed a wince. "I don't plan on doing anything. I've haven't celebrated my birthday in years. Besides, I'm not too fond of my birthday anyway."

Emmett gasped. "Not fond of your birthday? Why not?" He sounded horrified.

I saw Alice glance at me. "I … no reason." I wished they would drop the subject.

"But why?" asked Edward. "Birthdays are supposed to be celebrated."

"It's nothing," I said, standing up and putting my bag to lay across my chest. "Look, I have homework to do. I'll see you guys around."

With that I walked away, fighting off the tears that were dangerously close to spilling over the edge.

I made my way to the library, where I did most of my studying. This place I found the most peaceful, and I got the most studying done there.

Sitting down at a small table in the far back of the library, I pulled my books and laptop – the workers at the Social Services place had given it to me as a graduation present – and began work.

For the next few hours, I stayed there, working on papers. I was always being told by the professors that I was a fast worker, since I always managed to finish all homework, and even a couple of assignment that were due at the end of the month, in just a few hours. Surprisingly, I retained it all!

Just as I was putting my laptop back in my bag, a shadow fell over my table. I looked up, expecting to see Edward or Alice. Much to my disappointment, the world's most annoying person was standing there.

"James," I said, glaring at him for all it was worth.

"Enjoying college, Bella?" he asked, grinning. He sat down in the chair across from me.

"Yes, in fact, I am. I'm quite happy right now, and I don't want it to be disrupted by you," I said, continuing to stuff some loose papers into my bag. "Now get off campus before I call a friend of mine who I know would _love_ to kick your sorry butt from here to Nevada."

James snorted, holding his hands up in defense. "Alright, alright. Relax, Bella. I just wanted to see how you're faring. You don't have to be so rude."

"And you don't have to stalk me!" I hissed. "How did you even get out of jail anyway? You're supposed to be stuck in there for another three years."

He shrugged, as if this was a normal conversation for him. "Eh. Jail's a little boring. I sprung myself out about three weeks ago. Nearly burnt the police headquarters down to the ground in the process, but look at this, baby! I sprung myself out of jail!"

I shook my head in disgust. "I have to go. Get off campus or I'll tall all the people I know what you did to me."

I'd just begun to walk off, but James caught my wrist and sharply turned it, yanking me around to face him. The grip on my wrist had been so strong, I felt the bone crack and pain jolted up my arm.

"Ow, James, you're hurting me!" I was beginning to feel real scared now. "Let go of me."

"Promise you won't tell anyone, and I'll let you go." His voice was menacing now.

"I promise, now let me go!" I said.

James grinned. He let me go and pushed me back into my seat. "See you around, Bella." He turned and walked away.

I sat there for a moment, then gathered my composure and left the library, fighting off tears. I was grateful no one had been near enough to hear us. My wrist was killing me, and I clutched it tightly to my chest, trying to ignore the shooting pain.

When I got to the dorm 15 minutes later, the tears were threatening to break loose. I burst through the door and shut it behind me, and then sunk down to the floor, unable to hold it together anymore. I sat there for several moments until my eyes dried up.

After I got control, I stood up, grabbed my bag from the floor and deposited it on my bed before going into the bathroom to wash off my face.

The reflection in the bathroom mirror was horrible. There were tear marks on my face, half of them dried, half of them still wet. My eyes were getting all red and puffy from crying, and my hair was beginning to fall out of the ponytail it had been in.

I grabbed a hand towel and dried my face, taking my hair out of my ponytail. I looked a little better …. Oh, forget it, I looked terrible still.

I moved my left hand and a jolt of pain went through my wrist. I winced and surveyed the damage to my wrist. My wrist was twisted at an odd angle, and there was something jutting out. I shook my head. How in the world could someone break a wrist? James could, if he really got angry enough.

The dorm door opened and closed just then, and a voice called, "Bella? Are you in here?" It was Alice.

"Alice?" I called back. My voice sounded strangely watery, like it always did when I had been crying. "I'm in the bathroom."

Alice poked her head through the door, took one look at me and said, "What in the world happened to you? You look like you have been crying for a while. Did something happen?" She stepped further into the bathroom, worry etching her pixie-like face. "Bella?"

"James," I said quietly. "I was just about to leave the library when he stopped me."

Alice sighed. "He never takes a break does he?" she muttered. "He didn't hurt you, did he? Did he … do anything?"

I showed her my wrist. "I think it's broken. James has a really strong grip when he gets really angry."

Alice gasped. "It's starting to swell, Bella. You need to get it checked out. Come on – I'll take you to the hospital."

"Do do you know it needs to be checked?" I asked as she pulled me through the bathroom door.

She giggled. "My father is a doctor, Bella. I can tell when I see a broken bone, and that, dear best friend, is a broken bone."

~o~

We arrived at the nearest hospital fifteen minutes later. Alice led me up to the front desk and asked the lady there kindly if we could get a doctor to look at my wrist.

Before the lady could answer Alice, someone called out Alice's name, and we turned around to see a doctor coming down the hallway. Alice smiled, and then said, "Hey, dad. What are you doing here?"

"I got called in here to help out with a delivery," the doctor said as he approached us. "Now, what are _you_ doing here?"

Alice giggled. "Oh, yeah. Bella, this is my dad, Dr. Carlisle Cullen. He's a doctor at Forks General; he's a pediatrician among many other things. Dad, this is Bella Swan, my roommate."

I smiled shyly at him. "It's nice to meet you, Dr. Cullen."

The man in front of us smiled warmly at me. "Please, call me Carlisle." I blushed slightly in embarrassment and nodded. "So, what can I do for you two?"

"Bella broke her wrist and it looks pretty bad," Alice said. She took my wrist gently in her hands and showed her father, who took my wrist gently in his cool hands.

He examined it carefully for a few seconds before he said, "It looks like just a small break – nothing too serious. Let's get you down to x-ray and take a couple x-rays, and we'll be able to tell more."

We took an elevator up to the third floor, and then Carlisle led Alice and I down many hallways to a room labeled 'X-ray'.

It turned out my wrist had only a small break to the bone. Carlisle was able to set the bone and he told me I would have to wear a cast.

"However, it seems as if the wrist has been broken before – several times in fact, and it looked like there were finger marks around the wrist. How exactly did you break your arm, Bella?" asked Carlisle as he put a cast on my wrist.

I could feel Alice's gaze upon me. "I … can't tell you. I don't know what the consequences would b-be if I told anyone." I turned my gaze to the floor.

And then I said, "I … it was a boy I know. He confronted me in the school library earlier and he got really angry and grabbed my wrist." My voice was getting lower and lower with every few words, and I was getting more embarrassed with each passing moment. "He made me promise not to tell anyone what happened … before."

I saw Carlisle glance at Alice, and then say, "Bella, you really need to tell someone if this guy is hurting you on purpose. It's against the law. Now, it is probably not any of my business, but has he … let's say, hurt you in any way in the past?"

I didn't answer, keeping my gaze upon the tiled blue and white floor, suppressing the painful memories of when I was fifteen. What made it even worse was I could feel Alice's gaze upon me, and I didn't need to turn around to know her eyes held worry and sympathy.

I guess Carlisle could sense my uncomfortable-ness with the subject because he said, "Okay, you're all set." He smiled kindly at me and added, "You'll have to keep the cast on your wrist for a couple weeks, but after that, you'll be good as new."

I smiled slightly, relieved that Carlisle had let the previous subject drop. "Thank you, Carlisle," I said softly.

"You're very welcome, Bella. Now, if you feel any more pain, take some Tylenol and that should help your wrist."

I nodded in understanding. "Okay."

When we were leaving the hospital a few moments later, Alice asked, "Are you hungry?"

Shrugging, I said, "A little, maybe."

"Okay, because I'm starving. Hey, we have a television in our room. How about we rent a movie and order a pizza? I haven't had pizza in ages," she said.

I shrugged again. "I guess."

Alice grinned. "Okay."

We got back to the dorm a half hour later, bearing a pizza and a movie. We had ordered the pizza from the local pizzeria that was near our college campus.

As we were settling down on Alice's bed, I said, "I'm sorry for storming out of the cafeteria earlier today. They weren't … made were they at my reaction to the question about my birthday?"

Alice looked at me. She shook her head at me and said, "They weren't. I explained to them that it was nothing personal against them – it was just a touchy subject. Edward was going to go after you, but I told him that we should let you calm down and cool off. I see no that it was probably a bad idea to let you go alone."

I smiled, blushing at the thought of Edward wanting to go after me. "Thanks, but I can handle James. I handled him when I was fifteen." I held up my wrist. "This is nothing. Should we start the movie now?"

Sensing I didn't want to talk about it any longer, Alice nodded and said, "Sure. Have you seen _The Sound of Music_?"

When I shook my head, Alice gasped and said, "Have you seen any classic movies?"

I shook my head again. "I've never really seen any movies before. I never really watched television when I was a kid."

Alice gasped. "We have got such work to do, Bella."

**Author's Note:** _Well, here's chapter four! Hope everyone liked it! Please review on your way out and you'll get another chapter tomorrow!_

_Next Chapter: Bella gets asked a question! And can you guess who it is?_

_See you next time! Hershey Kiss Lover._

_**NEXT CHAPTER:**_

"Well, I was just wondering if you'd like to go out to dinner on Wednesday. Just you and me, to celebrate your seventeenth birthday," he answered.

I studied him carefully for a moment. Did Edward Cullen just ask me out on a date? Or was I just dreaming?


	6. Edward's Question

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** Well, here's chapter five. Hope everybody likes it! I had a lot of fun writing it!

Chapter Five – Edward's Question

_**Bella Swan**_

The next afternoon, after my last class, I was in the dining hall, eating lunch and waiting for Alice, who had had to go back to our room to grab something. I had been so enthralled in the book that I was reading – _Wuthering Heights_ – that I didn't hear someone approach the table I was sitting at.

"Hey, Bella."

I jumped, startled, my fork clattering to my plate. Looking up only to see it was just Emmett and Jasper, I let out a breath. "Jeez, you guys. Don't sneak up on a person like that. You could give them a heart attack!" I said.

Emmett grinned. "Sorry, Bella," he said as he and Jasper sat down at the table across from me with their trays.

I dismissed it with a wave of my hand. "It's okay."

Jasper nudged Emmett's arm with his elbow and jerked his head slightly towards my direction. "Go on, Emmett," he said.

Emmett nodded and turned to me, and then said, "Bella, we're really sorry if we offended you in any way yesterday afternoon."

Once again, I dismissed it with a wave of my hand. "It's okay. It's nothing personal, and it's nothing against you guys. I just don't really celebrate my birthday because of … certain things. Not once have I celebrated my birthday since I turned seven, and it has been just perfectly fine with me. And I shouldn't have just … walked out like that yesterday afternoon."

"Hey, guys! Hey. Jazzy!" Alice sat down next to Jasper with a tray of food.

"Hi, Alice," we said just as Edward arrived, also carrying a tray of food. He sat down next to me, and I blushed as I looked down at my tray.

"Hey," he said. "Will somebody please remind me _why the heck_ I signed up for the Literature 101? Professor Mantollini creeps the heck out of me, and his essays are nightmares."

"Professor Mantollini is not that bad of a teacher. Yes, he is a bit creepy, but he's really wise for a professor of Literature," said Jasper. I nodded in agreement.

"What happened to your wrist, Bella? That wasn't there yesterday," Emmett said, pointing to the cast on my wrist.

"Oh, that. Um, I tripped heading out of the library yesterday. I'm such a klutz," I said, grinning nervously and blushing beet red from embarrassment.

"So what happened to your wrist, Bella?" asked Rosalie as she sat down.

"I tripped," I said, no longer in a happy mood, and definitely not wanting to talk about it any longer. "You know me and my klutziness." I could feel Alice's eyes on me.

Thankfully, the subject was changed, much to my relief.

~o~

_**Edward Cullen**_

I walked through the rows of books, searching for Alice, who I knew was studying with Jasper. Or making out. Seriously, they could rival with Emmett and Rosalie, for goodness sakes, who were the king and queen of making out.

My theories proved correct. I found the two in the back of the library, 'attempting' to study.

Rolling my eyes, I cleared my throat and said, "You can get kicked out of the library for making out."

Alice pulled away from Jasper and asked, "They can?"

Jasper nodded. "Emmett and Rosalie have been kicked out of the library before."

Alice rolled her eyes. "That's Emmett and Rosalie. Anyway, what's up, Edward?"

I sat down in a chair at their table and asked Alice, "What's up with Bella, Alice? It seems as if you know something that the rest of us don't. Did you see how hesitant she was when Rose asked about her wrist?"

Alice sighed. "It's none of your business, Edward. You should just leave it alone until she tells you herself."

I sighed and leaned back in my chair. "Does it have anything to do with why she doesn't like to talk about her past?"

My sister sighed. "Edward, leave it alone. It's something personal to her, and you need to respect that. She'll tell she's ready to."

"Dude, I think Alice is right. I think that you should just leave well enough alone until she's ready to tell the rest of us," Jasper said.

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Alice asked.

My cheeks heated. "I … just do." Alice and Jasper gave me pointed looks, eyebrows raised. "Okay, I confess. I like her a lot – ever since that time I ran into her the day after we moved in."

"Yes! He finally confesses! Okay, Jasper, pay up!" Alice said. Jasper groaned and handed my grinning sister a five dollar bill.

I shook my head. "But the thing is, Alice, I really, really like her, but I don't know if she likes me, you know?"

Alice's jaw dropped as she gave me an incredulous look. "Edward, seriously. Have you not seen this girl? I room with her. Every single time she sees you, her face lights up and her eyes light up. Trust me – she likes you. I think that there is something blossoming that is more than just friendship. Don't you agree, Jasper?"

Jasper nodded. "Oh, yes, dude. Her face heats up whenever you ask her a question."

I smiled. "So she does like me? Finally! I'll be able to tell those two dipsticks Jessica and Lauren to bug off."

"Those two freshman girls who basically worship you?" Alice asked. I nodded. "They're in my history class. Looks like Bella has a little competition."

I grinned. "But I only like one of them. See you guys later."

And I walked off, whistling Claire de Lune under my breath.

So Bella Swan liked me? I grinned at the thought. Maybe Alice was right. Maybe there was something more than just friendship that was blossoming.

When I walked through the door into my dorm, I saw Emmett doing sit-ups on the floor. He noticed my cheery mood and sat up. "What's up with the whistling?" he asked.

I shrugged, grinning. "I'm just in a happy mood, that's all."

Emmett raised his eyebrows. "Happy about what? Did you finally get yourself a girlfriend?"

I shook my head. "Nope. But I did find out that someone does like me – a girl that I actually like back."

"And who would that be, my dear younger brother?" Emmett asked, obviously interested now.

I grinned again. "Bella Swan."

Emmett grinned. "Nice choice, Eddie. I definitely approve. So, have you asked her out yet?"

I had been taking a drink from my bottle of water just then, and I nearly spit the water out of my mouth. "Ask her out? Gosh, no. That would be too awkward and embarrassing – for the both of us."

Emmett snorted. "Ask her out. Her birthday is coming up in like a week. Take her out then."

I thought about that for a moment. "Okay. I guess. I'll give it a shot."

Emmett clapped me on the shoulder and said, "Good man. Trust me – she'll say yes."

_**Bella Swan**_

Sunday evening, three days before my birthday, I was in the laundry room, waiting for my clothes to be done in the dryer. I was sitting on the big table that was in the middle of the laundry room, studying my biology book. I had a test the next day in biology that I had to study for.

I was so immersed in my studying that I didn't hear anyone come up behind me; I was alone in the laundry room, and it was quiet, with the exception of the sounds of the machines.

"Studying yet again," chuckled an angelic, musical sounding voice.

I started and quickly got off the table and turned to see Edward standing there, looking impossibly gorgeous. I blushed as I felt my heart flutter. I smiled slightly and looked down at the top of the table. "Only a little. We have a test in Biology tomorrow, remember? I wanted to study more for it."

Edward grinned. "No wonder why you skipped a year of high school. You study all the time. Why is that?"

I smiled a little and turned away. I opened the door of the dryer my clothes were in and began pulling them out. "Well, I didn't really have a lot of friends – well, okay, I didn't have any friends. I mostly kept to myself and kept up with my studies. They all thought I was a freak, mostly."

"I don't think that."

My hands froze halfway into the dryer. I straightened up and looked at him. "You don't … think I'm a freak?"

Edward shook his head, setting his own basket of clothes on the table. "I think you're really talented. You paint beautifully."

My cheeks burned, and I smiled as I laughed slightly. I began folding my laundry as Edward began putting laundry in the washing machine. How was it that I always felt at ease whenever I was around him?

After a couple moments of silence – was it an awkward or comfortable silence? – Edward asked, "So, are you doing anything on Wednesday?"

I stopped in mid-fold and looked at him. "You mean my birthday?" He nodded.

"Like, are you doing anything to celebrate your birthday?" Edward asked. Was he going somewhere with this?

I shook my head. "Not really. I just plan on curling up on my bed with a classic and go to bed early. Why?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you'd like to go out to dinner on Wednesday. Just you and me, to celebrate your seventeenth birthday," he answered.

I studied him carefully for a moment. Did Edward Cullen just ask me out on a date? Or was I just dreaming? Was this some kind of cruel joke or something?

After a few seconds of studying him, I resumed my folding and asked, "Like a date?"

He nodded, almost looking hopeful.

"Well," I said slowly as I began putting my clothes in my basket as I folded them. I hesitated for a couple seconds. Was he worth it? Oh, I like him – I liked him a whole lot. Why not? "Okay, sure."

He grinned. "Okay, great. Does dinner and a movie sound okay? I know it's an overly used first date choice, but it's a nice way to start out."

I laughed. "Dinner and a movie sounds great." I finished folding all my clothes and putting them in my basket.

He chuckled. "Okay. Six sound okay? I'll pick you up at your dorm room?"

I nodded, smiling. "Alright." I picked up my biology book and placed it in my basket along with my bleach and detergent. "But, I have to forewarn you, Edward: I have absolutely no dating experience."

Edward laughed. "I don't have any dating experience, either."

I smiled at him and placed my basket on my hip. "I'll see you around, Edward."

"See you," he replied.

As I was walking back to my dorm, it felt as if I couldn't breathe. I was bursting with happiness. Edward Cullen had just asked me out on a date! A slight grin plastered itself on my face as I thought about that fact.

I walked into my dorm, a dreamy look still on my face. I couldn't help it; I was happy.

"What's with the dreamy look, Bella?" Alice asked from her bed. She was reading a book. "Did someone just ask you out?" With a grin I nodded, and Alice pulled me onto her bed. Looking me straight in the eye, she said, "Tell me everything! Who was it?"

"You brother just asked me out!" I said, not able to wipe the grin off my face.

Alice squealed and said, "You two would be so cute together! When are you going out?"

"Wednesday," I said.

"Your birthday?" Alice asked.

I nodded sadly. "The tenth anniversary of my parents death, too. What am I going to do? I'm always cranky on that day." I fell backward and covered my face with Alice's pillow.

Alice laughed and patted my knee reassuringly. "You'll figure something out. Besides, one can never be cranky on their birthday!"

**Author's Note:** Hope everybody liked this chapter!

Next chapter: Bella and Edward's first date! What will happen? Will it go as smoothly as Bella wants it to?

Okay, here's the deal. To find out what happens in the next chapter, I need at least five reviews for this chapter or I am not going to post any more. So… PLEASE REVIEW and I'll post another chapter.

See you next chapter! Hershey Kiss Lover.

_**NEXT CHAPTER:**_

He smiled then, and our eyes met, staring straight into each other's eyes. It was then that I felt this sort of connection between us spark to life.

This connection was like no other; it was strange. I'd never felt anything like this before, and it was totally new to me.

And then, in my heart, a feeling erupted. A feeling that was new to me as well.

It was love.


	7. A Strange Connection

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** Thank you all SO much for reviewing! It made me extremely happy! I am proud to say that this story so far has received over a thousand hits! Which is awesome!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Six – A Strange Connection

_**Bella Swan**_

I sat bolt upright in my bed, almost falling off in the process. My heart was pounding erratically, so hard that I thought it would pound right out of my chest. You could probably hear it all the way on the other side of the campus.

"Bella?" The small worried voice came from across the room, and I looked over to see Alice sitting up in bed, looking at me worriedly.

"I'm okay," I said, running a shaky hand through my hair. "Go back to sleep. Sorry for waking you." The alarm clock that was glowing from my desk read 4:02 a.m.

"Are you sure?" Alice asked.

I nodded. "I'm fine. It was just that dream again." My voice didn't sound convincing, even though I assured her I was fine.

"Okay," she said – sounding unconvinced – and laid back down. Her soft snores filled the silent room a couple moments later.

For several moments, I laid in my bed, staring at the white ceiling, wide awake. My mind was whirling with images from my nightmare.

My nightmare of the night my parents died always haunted me on my birthday, and on those days it was more vivid and real. I'd been having the dreams ever since after my seventh birthday. They plagued my dreams several times a week, always waking me up in the very early morning.

I sighed and turned to face the wall, willing – pleading – to myself to go back to sleep … to no avail.

Maybe this birthday would be different. Hopefully.

~o~

For two hours, I was forced to endure Alice's makeover torture. Alice had told me earlier that afternoon that she wanted me to look "absolutely perfect" for my date with Edward. I told her to go easy on me.

And so, I was forced to seat on the toilet in our bathroom for two hours while she worked on my make-up and hair.

"Okay," she finally said. "You can look now."

I opened my eyes. What I saw was pretty surprising – for me, at least. Alice had done a really good job, I had to admit. My hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and was curled, giving me a cute look. She had lightly brushed some eye shadow to my eyelids, and had added some sparkling, very light pink lip-gloss to my lips. As a finishing touch, she had put some very pretty, real tiny diamond earrings in my ears – cheap studs she had gotten from Claire's.

For clothes, I was wearing a jean skirt that went to a bit past my knees, and a white blouse. On my feet, Alice had stuck a pair of black shoes. They went to my ankles, and had to be tied up.

In all, I was … pretty. Beautiful maybe.

"Wow," was all I could get out.

Next to me, Alice was grinning. "You look beautiful," she said.

I blushed. "Thanks, Alice."

She giggled and kissed my cheek. "You're welcome. You're so fun to put make-up on. Too bad I hadn't met you before college."

Before I could answer, a knock came at the door of our room, and my heart plummeted. He was here. Alice grinned and pulled me out of the bathroom. Then she pushed me gently towards the door before going to perch on the edge of her bed. I looked at her, and she smiled encouragingly back at me.

I sighed and opened the door.

He was standing in the hallway, looking impossibly, inhumanly gorgeous. When I opened the door, he smiled his crooked smile at me, and my heart fluttered and stopped for a split instant. "Hey," he said.

It took me a second to say hello back. When I got my voice back, my cheeks heated up and I said, "Hey, Edward."

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Let me just get my sweater. Do you want to come in for a second?" He nodded.

I quickly grabbed my sweater and purse from my desk. I turned to Alice, who was grinning at me from her bed, and said, "By, Alice."

"Bye, guys. Oh, and Edward, have her back by eleven," she said.

Edward rolled his eyes, chuckling. "Yes, mom. She'll be home early."

She laughed. "Bye guys."

We walked in comfortable silence out of the dorm building and to the student parking lot. I kept my gaze trained on the gravel of the ground as I walked, too shy to strike up small talk. A small, soft smile was playing on my lips.

We approached Edward's car, a shiny, silver Volvo, and he opened the front passenger car door. "Milady," he said, the crooked grin that I loved so much appearing on his face.

I smiled, giggling. "Why thank you, kind sir," I said as I got into the car.

Soon, we were driving along the road away from the campus. I was still quiet, still too shy to speak. _Oh, stop it, Bella. Speak to him_, my conscience told me. I mentally took a deep breath and was just about to ask him a random question when he suddenly spoke.

"So, I thought that we could see a movie and then grab a bite to eat," he said. He clearly was as nervous as I was, and I was comforted a little by that fact.

I turned my head to look at him, a smile creeping up onto my lips. "That sounds good. Do you know what's playing?"

He nodded. "I looked through the listings this afternoon. There's a few movies playing that sounds good."

We arrived a couple moments later at the local movie theatre, only to discover that it was closed.

"'_Closed for new painting. Will reopen in two days_'" Edward said, reading from the sign on the door to the theatre. "There goes that plan. The movies that are playing are really good, too. Dang, I must have been reading last weeks paper."

I giggled. "It's alright. That means we get more time together before we have to head back to the campus."

He grinned. And then his stomach growled. His grin grew even wider. "I like that idea. How about we go eat some dinner? I have the perfect place in mind."

I nodded. "Sounds good. And where would this place be?"

"This little Italian restaurant near Forks. I've heard people talking about it and I've been there a few times." He paused, hand frozen on the car door handle to the passenger side. "You do like Italian food, right? I forgot to ask."

I giggled and nodded. "I love Italian food. I haven't had it in ages."

A few minutes later, we arrived at this tiny restaurant that was nestled in between a bookstore and a small bakery. The smells that were emanating from the bakery and restaurant smelled so good that it made my mouth water. Truth was, I hadn't eaten Italian food since … my 7th birthday.

We got out of the car and I caught a glance at the name of the restaurant.

_La Bella_.

My heart plummeted and I could feel tears burn in the back of my eyes.

This was the same restaurant we had eaten at … the night my parents had died.

Edward opened the door of the restaurant, holding it open for me. I managed to throw a small convincing smile at him as I headed through the door. He followed me, and I could have sworn his eyebrows creased together slightly in confusion, but it disappeared as soon as it had come.

As we entered, the maitre'd lady looked up, and her eyes widened as her gaze fell on Edward. I felt a slight twinge of jealousy. Nobody should stare at a guy who was on a date with another girl. It was just plain rude. But then again, what can I say? Edward was pretty good looking.

"H-hi, welcome to La Bella. May I help you?" asked the girl, who looked like she was probably about seventeen or eighteen.

"I have a reservation," Edward answered, flashing the girl his most dazzling smile. "Cullen is the last name." I fought back a giggle; he sounded so formal.

The girl just stood there for a moment, ogling him before she shook her head slightly and said, "Cullen? Let's see … ah, yes. Follow me, please." She grabbed two menus and we followed her to a secluded booth in the back of the restaurant. There was a card holder in the middle of the table with a card that said 'Reserved' in fancy gold lettering.

She placed the menus on the table and said, "Your waiter will be with you shortly." And then she disappeared though the swinging double doors that obviously led the kitchen.

I giggled as we sat down. Edward raised his eyebrows and asked, "What's so funny?"

I smiled and said, "You really shouldn't dazzle women like that. The poor girl is probably hyperventilating in the kitchen right now."

He grinned and said, "Well, I at least know that I have eyes for only one girl, and that is you."

I blushed, smiling.

The waiter came just then and her eyes went immediately to Edward. "Hi, my name is Katie and I'll be your server tonight. Can I start you off with any drinks?" she asked.

"Water, please?" I asked. Katie nodded and then turned to Edward.

"Make that two, please?" he asked.

Katie nodded and left through the kitchen doors. She came back a moment later with two glasses of water. Edward flashed my favorite smile at her, causing her to gaze at him for a second before shaking her head and heading towards the kitchen again.

Edward shook his head. "They always do that. All through high school the girls in my class ogled at me."

I smiled and picked up my menu. He did the same and we sat there in comfortable silence, looking through our menus.

"So, tell me about yourself," Edward said, breaking the silence.

I looked up at him. "Well, what do you want to know?"

Edward shrugged. "I don't know. Something about you that I don't know – outside your college life."

I bit my lip; I wasn't ready to tell him yet. "How about we start with you asking me simple questions, and I asking you simple questions?"

"Okay. What's your favorite color?" he asked.

"Um, it changes every day, but if I really had to choose, then it would probably have to be blue or white," I said. "What's yours?"

"I'd have to say royal blue. It's my favorite color on you," he replied. My cheeks heated up. "What kind of books do you like to read?"

"I like anything, but my ultimate favorite are classics. I was introduced to them when I was nine and I've been reading them ever since," I said.

"What's your favorite classic?" he asked, watching me with some sort of expression on his face.

"I'd have to say _Pride & Prejudice_ and _Wuthering Heights_," I said. "They are my all-time favorite."

He smiled then, and our eyes met, staring straight into each other's eyes. It was then that I felt this sort of connection between us spark to life.

This connection was like no other; it was strange. I'd never felt anything like this before, and it was totally new to me.

And then, in my heart, a feeling erupted. A feeling that was new to me as well.

It was love.

**Author's Note:** Well, there's chapter six. What did you all think of it? Tell me if you think it's a good depiction of a date (I've never been on a date before!) or not.

I'm going to have to get at least five or six more reviews in order for me to post another chapter, so review review review!

You guys are awesome! See you next chapter, Hershey Kiss Lover.

_**NEXT CHAPTER:**_

And then his lips were on mine, lingering there for a few seconds before he pulled back, searching my face for my reaction. Slowly, I smiled a small smile, and he grinned back, and pulled my face to his.

This kiss lasted longer, several seconds longer than the first one.

And it was magical.


	8. The Kiss

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** I hope everybody had a nice Christmas! I did! I got to see my sister again, and my mom's whole side of the family was there at my grandparent's house for the first time in years! Sorry I didn't update on Christmas day, but it was just busy!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I had fun writing it!

Chapter Seven – The Kiss

_**Bella Swan**_

All through dinner we continued to ask questions about each other, starting out with questions like favorite flower, movie, that kind of stuff.

All evening, I never once felt uncomfortable around Edward. He made me laugh and blush, and just feel like … well, a normal person. I was myself around him.

I just hoped that nothing would mess this up, this … connection that we had between us.

"So, tell me about your family," I said.

We were walking down the sidewalk from the restaurant. We had decided to take a walk through the park, talk a little more before heading back to the college.

"You've met them – Emmett and Alice. And Jasper and Rosalie, as well, even though they're not related to us," he replied. "And I'm sure you've met my mother, Esme."

I nodded. "On the day we moved in. She came with Alice. I've met your dad, too. They seem like really nice people to have as parents. You're really lucky."

"They are really great parents. We all love them very much." He gazed at me thoughtfully for a moment, and I swore I could see slight confusion in his eyes. "What about your parents. You never talk about them. I'm curious."

I almost stopped in my tracks, freezing. I was silent for a second, confused. No matter how much I tried to remember, I couldn't. It was like I had forgotten everything about my parents up to the time they died. I only remembered their names and how they died. Why couldn't I remember anything about them? I didn't even remember what they looked like.

What was I supposed to tell Edward? "Well, they're nice," I said, praying he wouldn't ask any more questions about my parents. "I don't really know how to describe them. They're the kind of parents who are kind of hard to describe, you know?"

Edward laughed. "Not really, but it's okay if you can't describe your parents."

I blushed, looking down at the ground as we walked. "So … what kind of music do you like to listen to?"

"I'll listen to just about anything," he replied. "What about you?"

"Pretty much the same, but I really like classical music. I just think it's so peaceful and calming – well, some of it anyway," I said, laughing. "I love Claire de Lune by Debussy."

Edward looked impressed. "You like classical music, too? My mother, Esme, loves to hear me play classical music on the piano."

"You play piano?" I asked. "Wow."

"Do you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I took a few months of piano lessons from an old lady I knew when I was thirteen, but I wasn't very good. Actually, it's quite embarrassing to hear me play. I'm a whole lot better at a paintbrush and paint."

"That you are," Edward said, laughing.

We had come to a small park, and Edward led me over to a bench that overlooked a small pond. We sat down and casually – very casually and "inconspicuously" – Edward's hand slowly moved toward mine and engulfed it.

A slight smile spread across my face and I glanced at Edward. He was glancing at me, as well. He caught my eye and we both looked away, chuckling softly.

"So, uh, how long have you been painting?" Edward asked.

"Well, I started drawing when I was nine years old, and then a lady I knew encouraged me to try my hand at painting. That was when I was thirteen. We became really close because she was an artist, too," I said. "However … I wasn't able to know her for even half a year."

"What happened?" Edward asked curiously.

I looked up at the stars and said, "She moved on to a better place. I believe she's up there somewhere."

Edward took hold of my hand and said, "I'm very sorry to hear that. It sounds like you were very fond of her."

I nodded, smiling sadly.

We sat in silence for a couple moments more and then Edward said, "Bella?"

"Mmm?" I asked, turning to face him.

"I was … wondering if I could try something." He sounded nervous, hesitant.

Slowly, he moved his face towards mine. I held my breath, not able to breathe.

And then his lips were on mine, lingering there for a few seconds before he pulled back, searching my face for my reaction. Slowly, I smiled a small smile, and he grinned back, and pulled my face to his.

This kiss lasted longer, several seconds longer than the first one.

And it was magical.

Pretty soon, we broke apart and sat back on the bench, smiling.

"Bella?"

"Mmm?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked.

I looked at him, and smiled. I leaned my head in and kissed him on the lips. When I leaned back, he grinned and said, "I take it that was a yes?" I smiled wider and laughed, nodding my head.

"Yes, I will be your girlfriend," I said, and he grinned again.

We sat on the bench in silence for the next several minutes, just enjoying each other's company with our arms wrapped around each other.

"Bella? I know you don't really seem to like celebrating your birthday very much, but I wanted to give you this." He pulled from his pocket a small, velvet ring box, and handed it to me.

I cautiously opened it. Inside was a simple silver band that had tiny vines and flowers engraved into the ring. It was so beautiful. "Oh, Edward. It's beautiful. Thank you," I breathed as he pulled the ring from the box and slipped it onto my index finger on my right hand.

"I'm glad you love it. There are some words engraved on the top there," he said, smiling and pointing to the top of the ring.

I squinted, and could make out three simple words. "'I love you'." I was surprised and happy all at the same time. I looked up at him. "You … love me?"

He simply nodded.

Tears filled my eyes, and before I knew what I was doing, my lips were on his, as a thank you.

When I pulled away, I smiled and said, "I love you, too, Edward."

~o~

When we got back to my dorm building, we walked up to my dorm, hand in hand.

"So, uh … I had a really great time tonight, thank you," I said. "Truly, I think that this has been the best birthday I've had in a long, long … long time."

He smiled. "You're very welcome, Bella. I'm very glad you enjoyed it. I had a great time, too. There is … one more thing, though."

I gave him a confused look as the door opened to reveal Alice, grinning broadly. I could see Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie standing inside the dorm room, all three of them grinning.

"Happy birthday, Bella!" Alice said as Edward, now grinning, led me inside.

I blushed a deep red as Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie said, "Happy birthday!"

"Now, we know you said that you didn't like to celebrate your birthday, but we decided to celebrate anyway!" Alice said as she went to her bed and grabbed something off of her pillow. "And, before you say anything, Bella, we wanted to get you something. It's from all of us, including Edward." She handed me a big box wrapped in striped white and green wrapping paper, with a huge pink bow on it. "Open it!"

Sighing, yet smiling, I opened the box. To my surprise, inside was a _really_ nice Nikon camera was that absolutely _perfect_ for photography. "Wow, thanks you guys!" I said, hugging each person in the room. "But … you really shouldn't have. This is _way_ too expensive." I wasn't used to getting gifts – especially ones like this – from people.

"Nonsense, Bella," Alice said. "We wanted to. And besides, with part of you major being photography, it made sense to get you a camera, since you didn't have one."

"So, are you guys together yet?" Emmett asked. Rosalie hit him with the back of her hand. "Ow! What?"

I blushed, Edward grinned and nodded, and Emmett whooped and punched the air.

"Woohoo! Lookie there, Jasper, our little guy has finally gone and found himself a girl! I thought that I would _never_ see the day when that would happen. Pay up, Jasper!" Emmett said, extending his hand out to Jasper.

Jasper rolled his eyes and handed him a five dollar bill.

~o~

Rosalie and the boys stayed for an hour longer, and we sat around, just talking and laughing. After everybody left, I grabbed my pajamas – my very comfortable sweatpants and an old, fading t-shirt – and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

As I did, I couldn't stop smiling. I had a boyfriend! Someone who cared for me, loved me. Someone I loved back.

When I walked out of the bathroom, twenty minutes later, Alice was sitting expectantly on my bed, a grin on her face.

"You have to tell me what happened tonight!"

I threw a grin at her and sat down on my bed, pulling a pillow in front of me to hug. "It was … amazing!"

"Spill!"

"I feel … completely at ease him, Alice. It was just … weird. I felt normal around him. I could talk about the randomness of subjects with him and not feel weird or stupid. He made me feel like I was a normal girl on a date," I said. "He asked me to be his girlfriend."

Alice squealed and hugged me. "Oh, I'm so happy for you, Bella!"

I giggled, then fell silent, a smile still on my face. "Alice, I think that I fell in-love with your brother tonight."

The grin on Alice's face got bigger than it looked possible, and she squealed as she leaned forward to give me another hug. "Oh, my god, Bella! This is _so_ great. You two are perfect for each other!"

My smile got bigger, but then it faltered a little bit. "Alice, do you know what's weird?"

"What?"

"I don't remember my parents. He asked me about my parents, and just as I was about to tell him, I couldn't. I don't remember anything about them. I just know when they died, how they died, their names. I don't even know what they looked like," I said.

Alice got a sympathetic look on her face.

"What should I tell him?" I asked.

Alice looked at me for a second, and then said, "No relationship should start with lies. You need to tell him the truth."

I got up and grabbed my zip-up sweater. "You're right, Alice. Don't wait up for me okay?" I said as I grabbed my sneakers.

Five minutes later, I was making my way to the dorm where Edward lived with Emmett and Jasper. I passed a couple of students in the hallway and on the staircases, but it was mostly beginning to get quiet.

All too soon, I arrived at Edward's dorm.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. _Here we go_, I thought as I waited for him to answer the door.

The door opened a couple of seconds later, and Jasper appeared. He grinned when he saw me, and said, "Hey, Bella. Want to come in?"

I smiled and shook my head. "I'm looking for Edward. He in there?"

Jasper grinned, nodding. He turned and called, "Hey, Edward, Bella's here!"

A door opened and Edward emerged. His face brightened when he saw me. "Hey, Bella," he said as he came to stand in front of me. "What are you doing here? It's, like, almost eleven."

I took a deep breath and said, "We need to talk."

**Author's Note:** So, Bella is finally gonna talk to Edward about her past. What will he say? Will he still be there for her or will he break up with her?

Next Chapter: Bella talks to Edward about her past, but to find out what happens, I'm going to need at least FIVE to SIX reviews before I'll post the next chapter.

Oh, and drama begins to come Bella's way…

See you next chapter! Hershey Kiss Lover.

_**NEXT CHAPTER:**_

"Lock the door and close the window shades," he said. "Do it now, and do it without complaining, and you might get out of here alive."


	9. Telling the Truth

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** SO sorry for the delay in posting the chapter! I hope everyone had a great New Years! I certainly did! I went over to my friend's house, and I actually stayed the entire night, which is a feat for me since I haven't managed to sleep over there the last several times she had a sleepover.

But anyhow, I hope everybody enjoys this chapter! I had a nice time writing it!

Chapter Eight – Telling the Truth

_**Edward Cullen**_

"We need to talk," she said, a serious look settling into my face.

"Uh … okay," I said.

She motioned her head to the side. "Can we go somewhere? Somewhere private?"

I nodded and quickly grabbed my sweater from my bed. Jasper and Emmett raised their eyebrows at me. "I'll be back soon. Don't wait up; I won't be long."

The two raised their eyebrows and wiggled them suggestively, grinning at me. "Have fun, Eddie," they said simultaneously.

I rolled my eyes and headed out of the room, shutting the door behind me. As we walked down the hallway, I asked, "So, where do you want to go?"

She shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Just somewhere private."

I led her up the stairwell to the top of the dorm building. I had discovered this place when I was exploring the campus, and usually went up there to study or for peace and quiet. The view was amazing; it overlooked the campus and you could see the main part of the town.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

Bella paced around for a moment before sitting down on a little ledge in the center of the roof. She took a deep breath a bit her lip. I fought a smile; it was really cute when she did that. "I need to talk to you about something. About my past."

I was silent, allowing her to continue. I went over to sit next to her.

"Relationships shouldn't begin with lies, and I don't want to start our relationship with me living a lie to you by not telling you about my life. I don't share this information with many people. In fact, Alice is the only one I've told, and that was because she practically wedged it out of me. So, I'm just going to tell it to you straight out," she said.

She took a deep breath. I waited for her to continue.

"My parents died on my seventh birthday," she started. I cut her off.

"What -?"

She looked at me, and I shut my mouth, and let her continue.

"They died in a car accident. We were on our way home from celebrating my birthday, and it was dark, and storming, and my dad didn't see the deer ahead of us on the road. I only escaped with a broken wrist and a couple of scrapes and bruises. After I got released from the hospital, I was put in social services until I was ten, and then I was put through foster care.

"I never stayed in a home for more than five months. None of them cared for me, loved me, or treated me very nicely. I was in about twenty-three different homes, one after the other, from the time I was ten to when I was fifteen, when I was placed back into social services. I never made friends, because they all thought I was a nerd and a freak. I didn't talk to anyone, and they didn't talk to me."

"What did they do to you in all of those different homes?" I asked, feeling angry that this had happened to my Bella.

She laughed bitterly. "They weren't too bad, but they neglected me, made me feel like an outcast and I up and left when I had enough of it."

She was silent for a moment, and then continued in her soft voice. "The worst house was the last one I was in. There was this boy, James, who was a couple of years older than me. He tried to make me his girlfriend, and I bluntly refused. He … beat me repeatedly and abused me. I finally got so fed up, that I walked back to Port Angeles from Hoquiam in rain with a broken wrist and sprained ankle. When I got back to Port Angeles, I told everything that had happened with the families. James was sent to jail."

I was filled with anger. How could so many people do that to such a sweet girl like Bella? Bella, who I loved so much?

I shut my eyes and pinched the bridge of my eyes; I always did this when I was angry. Bella was silent, letting the information that she had just told me sink in.

"Are you mad?" she finally asked. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. It's just that I don't tell this to many people. Only people that I feel safe around."

I opened my eyes and looked her straight in her brown eyes. "Bella, I could never be angry at you for what happened to you when you were growing up. I understand now why you always avoided the questions that we asked you about your past. I angry that this had to happen to you. You never deserved this. You're too sweet a girl and much, much too polite and kind. I'm sorry that had to happen to you."

Bella smiled once and then said, "I've grown very good at the talent of masking my pain very well. And you don't have to apologize for the things that happened to me. I lived through them. I thought that college would be a good experience for me – a change in my life."

"You continue to amaze me everyday, Bella. I would never have been able to pull on a face and face the next day, day after day. How do you do it?" I asked.

Bella sighed, and said, "I don't really know. I guess it's just the idea that my parents would have wanted me to not give up. They probably would have wanted me to live my life. Make friends. And I am glad that I came to college, because I met you five. I feel very safe around you guys."

"What really happened to your wrist?" I asked, motioning to the cast that was still on her wrist.

Bella sighed again, and said, "Remember James?" I nodded. "He's sort of stalking me. He cornered me in the library the day you guys asked me about my birthday, and, well, he got kind of angry, and broke my wrist. He has a strong grip when he gets angry."

"He's here? He followed you to college? I thought he was in jail?"

"He got out," Bella said quietly.

I pulled her against my chest, wrapping my arms around her. "You don't have to worry about him, Bella. You're safe with me. I'll protect you from him. I'll always be here for you, Bella, and so will Alice and the rest of the gang."

Bella pulled back and looked at me. There were tears in her eyes. "Thanks, Edward." Then she placed her lips on mine. I was all too willing. I kissed her back with all the passion that I could muster. When we broke apart, all too soon for my liking, Bella smiled at me a watery smile.

"I love you, Bella," I said.

She smiled and said, "I love you, too, Edward. Thanks for listening."

I pulled her back in for another hug. "Thank you for telling me, Bella."

"You're welcome," she said, and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling my head in for another kiss.

~o~

_**Bella Swan**_

Things went smoothly after that night I talked with Edward. Our relationship had grown since that night, and we grown tighter and closer than when we were just friends.

James left me alone, something that I was very happy about. I managed to relax, and even the dreams stopped harassing my nights; I had found that after I had gotten together with Edward, I had stopped having those dreams. Alice theorized that when I had finally told someone and alleviated some of the thoughts on my mind, it had stopped the dreams.

I kind of agreed with that, but I thought that it was because I finally had someone to feel safe around.

I never did tell Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie my past. When Edward asked me when I was going to tell them, I said that I would tell them when I thought the time was right, when I absolutely had to tell them.

I continued to love my classes. They were particularly easy for me – I had always been able to catch on pretty quickly and finish everything the day it was assigned in just a few short hours. Alice was jealous about that little fact, but she was only jokingly jealous about it.

The weeks passed easily and quickly, and before I knew it, it was Halloween. There was a big party going on in our dorm building, and Alice tried to convince me to go, but I bluntly refused. I wasn't too much of a fan of parties. Edward wasn't exactly, either, so he suggested that we go see a movie at the theater. I had kissed him for that.

Edward had insisted that he pick the movie; I was a little bit tentative about this, but I let him pick the movie – how bad could it really be, right?

I was wrong. The movie he had picked was a horror film; something about zombies. Of course, he didn't inform me what the movie was or was about until we were at the theater and Edward was buying the tickets. _Face of Horror_, it was called. When the lights dimmed in the auditorium, I began to get nervous.

_Face of Horror_ was horrible. It scared me half out of my wits and I more than once hid my face in Edward's shoulder. Edward, on the other hand, found it amusing. "Very bad special effects" he had said, while I said, "Absolutely terrifying."

I had nightmares for a week after that.

The gang and I continued to meet at the cafeteria for lunch and sometime dinner. It had become our regular routine, and we loved it. We got to catch up on each other's days and complain about our classes. Emmett and Jasper found it hilarious that I had a humongous tendency to blush, and they took every opportunity that they had to _make_ me blush, much to my embarrassment.

The Cullen's and Hale's had become my best friends, and my family. I couldn't remember what it felt like to have a family, and they were close enough. I loved them all dearly, especially Edward. Rosalie was still trying to warm up to me, but we were making progress towards friends.

I managed to get a small waitressing job at the local coffee shop down the street from my dorm building, so I was starting to make a little bit of money. For this I was grateful; it meant that I could start buying my own clothes whenever Alice dragged me on one of her shopping trips.

Pretty soon it was nearing the end of November, which meant Thanksgiving was coming up. The Cullen's and Hale's were going back home for Thanksgiving. Since I had nowhere to go – I didn't really want to go back to the Social Services place in Port Angeles for Thanksgiving – I decided to stay at the college, catch up on some sleep and spend some time in the library. I had received permission from my art teacher to use the art room, so I was going to take advantage of that and do some sculpting.

Esme and Carlisle had graciously invited me to their home for Thanksgiving vacation, but I politely declined through Alice saying that I didn't want to intrude on their family time. They had, of course, been apart from each other for three months.

So, there I was, walking Alice down to the parking lot where she was meeting Rosalie and the guys to head back to their hometown of Forks.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want to come? Esme would _love_ to have you," Alice said as we started down the stairs.

I shook my head. "I'm sure, Alice. I'm just going to hang out here, study, read. I'll be fine."

"You'll call if you get lonely or if James is bothering you and you need rescuing?" Alice said.

I nodded. "I will. I promise. Go and have fun."

Alice sighed and said, "Alright. I still feel that you should be with us for Thanksgiving. I can't shake the feeling that something is going to go wrong."

"Alice, I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me. I'm perfectly able to take care of myself. Now, you're going to be late meeting Rosalie and the guys. Have fun and don't worry about me," I said. We were approaching the parking lot and we could see the gang surrounding the two cars that they were taking.

Emmett caught sight of us and waved. "Last chance, Bella! You're gonna miss out on a lot of fun!"

"Sorry, Emmett. I have work," I said. I wasn't lying; I really did have to work on Thanksgiving.

Edward wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gave me a hug. "I'll miss you, Bella."

I smiled and placed a kiss on his lips and hugged him back. "Same here."

"Oi! Break up the kissing session! We have to hit the road!" Emmett said, and Jasper laughed. The others were already getting into the cars.

Edward turned and glared at his older brother. "Oh, shut it, you guys are just as bad, and you know it. In fact, you're worse." He turned back to me and said, "Be safe, alright?" I nodded and he smiled, kissing my lips once more before running his finger down the side of my cheek. Then he turned and walked towards the car.

~o~

The rest of the day passed smoothly. I sat in my dorm room and read, studied, and drew. I made sure to keep my dorm room door locked – just to be safe.

On Thanksgiving, the next day, I was working all day at the coffee shop. It was one of those shops that were always open 365 days a year. Two of the three employees (me included) were gone for the holiday, and, seeing that I had no family that I had obligations to, my boss, Mr. Ublonsky, had taken advantage of that and made me work on Thanksgiving.

The day was slow. Only about between fifteen and twenty customers came in throughout the day, mostly truckers that were lonely and needed a good coffee and doughnut.

By the time that I got out of work that night, it was dark. Since I didn't have a car (I was currently saving up for one), I had to walk, something Edward and Alice didn't particularly like, since neither of them were there to pick me up. Edward usually picked me up, and he had at first been tentative that I had to walk. I convinced him that I would be fine. It was only a ten minute walk.

Mr. Ublonsky told me to lock up that night, even though he lived two buildings down. He told me a lame story about his wife being majorly ticked off that he worked on that holiday, so he had told her that he would be home earlier than normal so that he could still have Thanksgiving dinner with his family. Just as I was cleaning out the filters of the coffee machines, I heard the door open.

"Sorry, we're closing," I said, not turning around.

"I'm not here for coffee."

Gasping, I turned around. There was James, standing in front of the door, a look way beyond evil – it was menacing.

"James! What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Hello, Bella. How have you been doing these days? I see that you've got yourself a boyfriend," he said. "He seems nice. What's his name?"

I didn't speak.

He moved towards me, pulling a long kitchen knife out of his coat pocket. I gulped. Fear coursed through me. _God, help me_, I pleaded.

"Lock the door and close the window shades," he said. "Do it now, and do it without complaining, and you might get out of here alive."

I gulped and moved slowly, with my hands held up in defense, and quickly locked the door to the coffee shop and shut the windows.

"Good. Now get into the back room and don't scream," he ordered, grabbing my wrists and pointing the tip of the blade at the base of my neck.

_Edward, I love you_, I thought silently, just in case I never got the chance to see him again and tell him that I loved him with all of my heart.

That night, James did something so horrible to me that it would leave an unhealing wound on my heart that would never really fully heal.

I'd never been so scared.

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the cliffhanger! Please don't hate me! I promise, it will be the only major one for a while. So, what did you think of the chapter? Please review and tell me what you thought. I was so happy with all of the reviews I got for the last chapter!

So, review, and I might just post another chapter sooner than the last one!

See you next chapter! Hershey Kiss Lover.

_**NEXT CHAPTER:**_

"What happened, Alice?"

"All I know that it is really bad. Just get to the hospital as soon as you can," I said.


	10. A Call for Help

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** Well, here's chapter nine! This is a rewrite of the original chapter that I had for chapter nine. I didn't really like the original one, so I rewrote it and replaced it with this chapter here. This one I like much better.

Thank you to all who reviewed last chapter! It means so much to me whenever I open my e-mail and see that there are either Favorite story alerts, Favorite author alerts, Story alerts or – my favorite one – Review alerts. As of right now, there are 2,439 hits and 18 favorites. You guys are _awesome_!

Chapter Nine – A Call for Help

_**Alice Cullen**_

It was great to take a break from the labors of school. It was nice to be back home, even for a little bit, to be with my family for the Thanksgiving holidays. But I was worried about Bella. What if something happened to her? For some reason, I wasn't able to shake the feeling that I had had for the last couple of days that something bad was going to happen.

It was nearing nine o' clock at night, and I was sitting with Jasper in the small diner in town. We had already had Thanksgiving dinner with at the house with the family, Rosalie, and Jasper and Rosalie's parents. Wanting to have a little time to ourselves, we had escaped for a couple of hours while the rest of the family watched the football on TV. We decided to go get milkshakes, and that was where we were currently.

"You're worried about Bella?" Jasper asked, throwing me an amused smile.

Laughing slightly, I smiled a sheepish grin. "Yeah."

"Why would you be worried about her? I mean, she's only at the college," he said, taking a slurp through his straw of the chocolate milkshake.

I shrugged my shoulders as I fingered my cell that was on the table. "Well, you know her. She's klutzy."

He laughed and nodded. "That is true."

I fingered my phone, twirling around on the table top. "You know, I think I'm going to give her a call. I just want to see if she's okay."

But before I could flip my phone open, it rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Bella calling. I flipped it open and placed it to my ear. "Hey, Bella. I was about to call you."

"Alice? This Angela Weber," came the voice of Angela Weber – a friend that had grown close to Bella and I – over the speaker.

"Angela, hi! What are you doing with Bella's phone?" I asked.

There was a few seconds of silence, and then Angela said, "Alice, uh, there's been an accident. I'm with Bella right now."

"What type of accident?" I asked. More intense worry began to settle in as soon as I heard Angela say 'accident'. Had James gotten to her? I knew I should have persisted that she come with us. Jasper was looking at me, confusion in his face. "What happened?"

"I'm not particularly sure. I knew Bella was staying at the dorm for the Thanksgiving holidays, and I thought I'd ask her if she wanted to grab some dinner. The door was open a bit and I could see blood on the doorknob. I found her in your bathroom. She was bleeding severely from her leg and unconscious, so I called 911. I'm at the hospital with her now and I thought I should call you. She kept mumbling your name and then the name of another guy. Uh, James or something."

My hand went to my mouth. "I'm on my way. Which hospital are you at?"

"The one fifteen minutes away from campus. Grace Memorial," she replied. "She's under the care of a Dr. Daniels in the ICU. I'll meet you in the ICU waiting room, alright?"

"Okay. Thanks, Angela," I said, and hung up.

I placed the phone on the table top and sat for two seconds. "Oh, my god," I said, then stood up. "Come on, Jasper, we have to go. Bella's in the hospital."

Jasper looked at me in surprise. "What? She's in the hospital? What happened?" he asked as he threw a couple of dollar bills down on the table and stood up. He looked worried.

Within a few seconds, we were in the parking lot, getting into the car. Jasper stuck the keys into the ignition and turned the car on as I said, "I'm not sure what happened. But I have a feeling that it's not good. We need to get to the hospital."

"Which hospital?" he asked as he put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking space.

"Grace Memorial, the one near campus," I said. "God, what is Edward going to say when he hears that Bella's in the hospital?"

"I'm sure he's not going to react to good. He cares so much about her," Jasper said. "Call him. Let him know that we're on our way to the hospital."

I dialed Edward's phone number and waited as it rang. He picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Edward. Listen, I need you to not freak out, alright?" I heard Jasper snort in disbelief.

"Alright. What's up that you need me to not freak out about?" he asked.

"Bella's in the hospital. James attacked her," I said, praying that he wouldn't explode too much.

"WHAT!"

Well, there goes that hope.

"Edward, calm down. She's in the hospital. Jasper and I are on our way to the hospital right now," I said. "Freaking out won't help anything."

"What happened, Alice?" Edward's voice was full of anger – for James – and worry – for Bella.

"All I know that it is really bad. Just get to the hospital as soon as you can," I said. "And see if Carlisle will come with you."

I heard Edward let out a huge frustrated sigh and say, "Alright. Which hospital is she at?"

"Grace Memorial."

The phone clicked and I knew that Edward had hung up on me. I flipped shut my phone and put it on my lap, sighing. My eyes turned to look out the window. Jasper took my hand in his and said, "She'll be okay. Bella's a strong fighter."

"God, Jasper, I hope you're right," I said.

Thanks to Jasper's fast driving, the normally forty-five minute drive to the town where Seattle University was located was shortened to only twenty minutes. We parked the car in the visitor's parking lot and hurried into the hospital lobby. The receptionist at the desk looked up, shocked, when we (well, okay, only I) nearly ran up. "May I help you?" she asked.

"Yes, do you know where the ICU is?" Jasper asked politely and calmly.

The receptionist – whose nametag said 'Shirley' – let out a bored sigh and said, "Level two. Follow the signs. It ain't that hard."

My mouth dropped open and I was about to reply back with a sarcastic retort when Jasper said, "Thank you very much," and pulled me away before I could say anything.

Angela was waiting for us, as she said she was, in the ICU waiting room. Her angelic face held a worried look and I could see dried tear marks on her face. She was sitting in a chair, but stood up when she saw us and ran over.

"Have you heard anything?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I've been waiting. Nobody's been out to tell me anything."

Edward arrived about twenty-five minutes after Jasper and I did, followed minutely by Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle had his serious doctor face on, Esme looked immensely worried, and Edward … Edward looked furious (at James, I was sure), but at the same time, he looked worried as well.

The wait was horrible. Because he was a doctor, Carlisle was allowed to go behind the swinging doors. That left me, Jasper, Edward, and Esme (Angela had left to head back to the college, after we promised to keep her updated on Bella) to sit and wait in the waiting room. I sat on a double seat with Jasper. He was holding me in his arms. Edward sat on the other side of the waiting room. He was beyond help. Even Esme couldn't console him. He was beyond worried for Bella, and I couldn't blame him. He loved her with all of his heart, and I couldn't imagine the pain of worrying that he was experiencing.

Finally, after about an hour and a half, Carlisle walked back through the swinging doors with a doctor. They stopped and talked to each other for a moment, and then Carlisle shook the doctor's hand and walked towards us as the doctor walked back through the doors.

Edward shot up from his seat when he saw Carlisle walking towards us. "Will she be okay?" he asked. Panic and worry was clearly still evident in his voice.

Carlisle nodded. "She'll be fine. She is going to be admitted to this hospital for the next couple of days so that the doctors can monitor her and see that she hasn't suffered any horrible trauma mentally. They did a rape test and she definitely was." Edward winced at Carlisle's words.

"Is she awake?" I asked as Esme and Jasper stood up as well.

He shook his head. "She's still unconscious. She should be awake in the next couple of hours, though. Is there any way that we can contact her parents to let them know what happened?"

Edward and I glanced at each other. I shook my head. "You wouldn't be able to contact them. They died when she was seven."

Esme, Jasper, and Carlisle gasped, and a look of concern formed on Esme's face.

"Well, is there anyone else we can contact?" Carlisle asked. "Any form of relative?"

I shook my head. "I don't know of any. Bella's never mentioned any other relatives."

For the next hour and a half we waited. Edward looked relieved that Bella was going to be okay, but still worried. We could tell that he was trying to wait as patiently as he could, but wasn't having very much luck. I flipped through a magazine, but I wasn't very interested in it, which was a first for me.

"Alice, what did you mean when you said Bella's parent's died?" Jasper asked me quietly.

"Her parents died in a car accident when she was seven years old. She was in foster care and social services up until she came to college in September," I said. "That's all I can tell you now. Bella's gonna have to tell the rest of you, if she wants to."

It was about an hour and a half later when we got the news that Bella was now awake. The nurse told us that she wanted to see me, so I immediately went to her room – room 305 – with Edward hot on my feet. I opened the door to her room and immediately ran to her bedside, engulfing her in a big hug.

"Alice!" Bella said, wrapping her un-bandaged arm around me. She spotted Edward, and her eyes lit up. "Edward!"

He came up to the bedside and took her hand in his. He looked deep into her eyes, his eyes full of unconditional love and worry for Bella. "Are you alright?" She gave a weak, trembling smile and nodded.

"We were all so worried about you. We thought you wouldn't wake up," I said, giving her another hug.

"We?" Bella asked.

Edward nodded. "Carlisle, Esme, and Jasper are out in the waiting room."

Bella was silent for a moment, and then she looked at me. "Alice, they need to know … don't they?" 

I nodded solemnly. "I wish it were under better circumstances, but they still need to know."

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Alright, Alice. Call them in. They need to know the truth."

**Author's Note:** _Well, there it is! I hope you all don't want to kill me!_

_If any of you were wondering why Bella didn't fight back when James came for her at the diner – she didn't fight back because she knows what James is capable of. I can't really explain a whole lot right now, but in a future chapter, her entire past will be revealed, and you'll see why. _

_So! Please review (I want to again thank everybody who reviewed) and I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can! I want to try to get up to at 20 reviews, so I'm going to need at least 5 reviews before I post another chapter. _

_See you next chapter! Hershey Kiss Lover._

_**NEXT CHAPTER:**_

"You don't have to be scared, Bella. We're never going to leave you. James will get caught and he'll go to jail."


	11. Time to Recover

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** SO sorry for the delay in updating. I've been busy and I was sick all last week (which I still am getting over it).

This chapter is kind of a filler, but hopefully it won't be too depressing….

I hope you like it!

Chapter Ten – Time to Recover

_**Bella Swan**_

I finally told my story. The story of my past.

Emmett (when I told him) and Jasper were horrified at what had happened to me. They were furious, just like Edward had been. When the boys heard what he had done to me in the backroom of the coffee shop, they wanted to go and rip him to shreds and stuff him in a deep dark corner of some alley. I shook my head, saying they wouldn't be able to find him; if he was on the run from the police, then he would be doing very well at hiding himself.

I gave Emmett permission to tell Rosalie, and Alice and Edward to tell Carlisle and Esme. I just couldn't tell it anymore. I was so emotionally, mentally, and physically drained that all I wanted to do was just curl up and die.

A few hours after I was admitted to the hospital, a police officer came and asked me questions. I told him that James was an escapee from jail, and that if they looked for him, they would have a hard time doing so, because when James was on the run from something, he could hide himself very well.

I stayed in the hospital two days, and was released the day before classes started up again.

I stopped meeting Edward and the gang for lunch and dinner; I stopped talking altogether. I didn't answer my phone when Edward tried to call. I avoided everyone. I just went to my classes, and sat in my dorm room studying and doing homework. I barely ate. Alice would try to get me to eat a sandwich she brought up from the cafeteria, but I would only eat a little bit of it.

I was afraid to go to sleep at night. I would lock and double check the dorm door at night, to make sure that no one came in. The nightmares were back; I would wake up during the middle of the night drenched in sweat. These nightmares were more terrible than the ones I had before the attack. These nightmares were of that night, the night James raped me.

Alice tried to make me talk about it, but I wouldn't. I kept saying that I needed time to get over it. Edward tried to talk to me about it, but I couldn't. I knew he cared about me – everybody cared about me, and was worried – but I couldn't talk about it. Not yet. I couldn't even myself cry out all of the emotions that I felt.

I kept to myself. People in my classes were scared to talk to me. I kept my phone off; I was tired of Edward and everybody calling me repeatedly to try to talk to me.

For two weeks I was in a sort of zombie mode. I didn't sleep; I didn't drink; I didn't talk. I just went to my classes in a daze.

And then I woke up.

~o~

It was a Saturday morning, a week and a half before Christmas. I was in the art room, working on a painting that I had been working on for a while. The painting was of a sunny meadow with light green grass blowing in the wind, daisies … the classic meadow where dreams were real.

Angela Weber, a nice and quiet girl in the pottery class, was in there with me. She was real nice to be around; easy to make conversation with. I was forever grateful for what she did to help me on that night; I couldn't thank her enough. I asked her not to tell anybody what had happened to me, and she promised and didn't question why. She didn't even tell her boyfriend, Ben Cheney.

"So, are you going home for Christmas?" she asked kindly from across the room.

I didn't look up from my painting. "No. They're not expecting me to. The Cullen's invited me to their house for the Christmas holidays, but I'm not sure."

"You should go," Angela said.

Letting out a breath, I looked up at her. "Uh, I'm not sure. With the stuff that happened a few weeks ago, I would just feel awkward being there."

There was silence for another ten minutes, and then Angela said, "Bella, I know what happened to you was bad, and I know that I don't really know the whole story behind the guy, but I do know that the Cullen's care about you."

"Ang …" I began, but she held up her hand.

"They really care about you, Bella. Edward, especially. I have seen the way he looks at you with such concern and love in his eyes." She began to pick up her art supplies as she continued. "They're there for you. You just have to be willing to accept their help and let them in. I know it's not any of my business, but I'm sure that if you _do_ let them in, and try to help, they will help you. They're willing to help you get through this."

She walked over to me on her way towards the exit, and put her hand on my shoulder. Then she handed me a business card with a name and phone number on it. "Everything will get better. I know it will, with time. I'll see you later, Bella." The card was for a therapist.

She gave me on last smile and walked away.

The compassion that she gave me left tears in my eyes and me standing frozen in front of my painting. I couldn't move. I couldn't cry; the tears were frozen in my eyes. And then the door to the art room opened. I started, and turned around.

Edward was standing there.

"Hey," he said quietly. He was smiling his crooked smile that I loved so much.

I gave a slight wave, smiling a little bit. "Hi," I said quietly. I turned back around to the painting canvas to place the paintbrush on the holder before turning back around to face them. "So, what are you doing in here?" I asked softly, merely curious.

He shrugged, keeping the smile on his face. "'I was just wondering how you were doing. I stopped by your dorm room, and Alice said you were here. Are you okay?" He motioned to the tears in my eyes.

I nodded quickly and sat down on the wooden stool in front of the easel. "I'm fine."

Edward walked over to me, and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure?" he asked in his soft voice.

The tone set my tears off, and this time they rolled down my cheeks. And they wouldn't stop. They just kept coming, rolling down my cheeks. I couldn't stop crying; once the first tear rolled, they all came and wouldn't stop. All the feelings that had been building up in my emotional state of being just came out in tears.

Edward pulled me against his chest wrapped his arms around me. I put my arms around his waist and just sat there. He didn't speak, just sat there and let me cry, rubbing my back in smooth calming circles.

For a good twenty minutes, I sat there, wrapped in his arms, crying. When my sobs had died down into trickling tears and just shuddering gasps, I pulled away and wiped at my cheeks and looked at him. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head, smiling a bit. "It's okay. It's good for people to cry occasionally. I take it that you haven't cried yet?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I guess everything just got bottled up and … came out. Angela gave me a card with the name of a therapist person."

"Are you going to call them?" he asked softly.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Do you think it's a good idea?"

He nodded. "It's good to talk to someone, Bella. We're all here for you, you know that, right? I'll even go with you to see this person."

I smiled in appreciation. "I'm sorry about how I've been treating you guys lately. It's just … it's just hard knowing that I'm alone in the world with no family that's blood related. And knowing that James is out there somewhere, knowing that he could get me anytime …. I'm so scared. I hate admitting that, but … I don't know if I'm ever going to get over this. So many things have happened in my life, and now this …."

Edward sat there, patiently listening to me and calmly waiting for me to finish.

Tears were trickling down my cheeks again. I wiped them away with the back of my hand and took a deep breath.

"You don't have to be scared, Bella," Edward said, catching a stray tear with his finger. "We're never going to leave you. James will get caught and he'll go to jail."

"I guess. But he's very good at hiding himself when he wants to," I said.

I let out a breath and looked at the card in my hands. Biting my lip, I said, "Maybe I _should_ call this psychiatrist person."

He nodded. "I think it would be a good idea." He looked at the clock on his phone. "Are you hungry?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Want to grab some lunch and we can talk some more?"

I allowed a small smile to form on my lips. Taking one more deep breath, I nodded. "Sure. I would love that. I need to get out of this place for a couple of hours."

Edward smiled his crooked smile and got up, holding out his hand for me. "Milady?" I smiled and took his offered hand.

As we walked towards the door of the art room, I stopped and pulled on his shirt to stop him. He turned and looked at me. I looked into his eyes and said, "I love you, Edward."

He grinned and pulled me in for a kiss. "I love you, too, Bella," he said.

And we walked out the door hand in hand.

~o~

When I returned to my dorm room two and a half hours later, I walked in to find Alice sitting on her bed, reading a magazine. She looked up when I closed the door, and smiled when she saw it was me. "Hey, Bella."

"Hey, Alice," I said as I placed my art bag down on my bed, sat down at my desk, and turned on my laptop.

Alice sat the magazine aside and, smiling knowingly, said, "You look … happy. When you left this morning you looked absolutely … miserable, if you don't mind me saying."

I dismissed it with my hand and said, "Edward came by the art room a little while ago. We went out to lunch, we talked … and surprisingly, I'm feeling better."

Alice smiled as she got off her bed and came over to me, giving me a hug. "That's good, Bella. We've all missed the old you. Welcome back."

I smiled a real, genuine smile and said, "I'm happy to be back."

Alice raised her eyebrows and said, "But … ?"

"But, I still need time to … recover. I may be back in my old … demeanor, or whatever the word is; I've woken up, but I'm gonna need time to fully heal, I guess." I held up the card Angela gave me and continued. "Angela gave me the number of a therapist person. Edward told me that it would be a good idea to get help from someone."

Alice nodded. "Absolutely. I'll even go with you if it helped some." She threw me one of her charming, hard to resist smiles.

I chuckled. "Thanks. But Edward's already offered to go with me."

Alice smiled. "What a good man." She hugged me once more and said, "Welcome back, Bella. It's good to know that you're on your way to recovering."

I hugged her back. "It's good to _be_ back."

**Author's Note:** Well, there you have it! Bella is on her way to recovery!

Here's the deal. I know there are a lot of you people who love reading this story, and I love writing it, and I know that readers would be disappointed if I deleted the story. I really don't want to do that, so people need to review review review!

So, REVIEW and I'll post the next chapter sooner!

See you next chapter! Hershey Kiss Lover.

_**NEXT CHAPTER:**_

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and grabbed the first test off the seat. Biting my lip, I slowly opened one eye and looked at the little screen. Two lines.

Two _pink_ lines.


	12. Two Lines Mean

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** YOU GUYS ROCK! I have never gotten so many e-mails in a day! So therefore, you guys get a chapter for being _so_ awesome!

I hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter Eleven – Two Lines Mean …

_**Bella Swan**_

And so began my recovery. I called the number on the business card and scheduled an appointment with the therapist, Dr. Natalia Morris, for during the second week of January.

Snow began to fly as the air grew bitter cold. The grass began to shrivel up and the leaves that had fallen off the trees were being blown around by the wind that picked up every now and then. The gang accepted me back into their circle all too gladly and warmly, accepting my apology of avoiding them. They helped begin my recovery from the attack James had made on me on Thanksgiving.

The day after I "woke" up, I went Christmas shopping with Alice and Rosalie. I had to admit that it was fun, especially since I had my own money and I could go shopping and buy things myself, rather than Alice all-too willingly paying for it. We shopped together for the boys, and then we went off on our own to get presents for one another.

Even though it was hard – and I knew that it was going to be hard – I went back to work at the coffee shop, starting out slowly. Mr. Unblonsky understood what had happened and had told me to take as much time off as I needed to until I was able to work on regular schedule.

My life was beginning to slowly get back on track.

However, three days before Christmas, the day before we were going back to Forks for vacation, something happened that changed my life … forever.

~o~

I sat bolt upright in my bed, shaking, with my hair falling around my shoulders. My bed sheets were twisted around my body and my breathing was coming out in short gasps. Alice was in the bed across the room, looking at me as she sat up in her bed.

Taking a couple deep, steadying breaths, I ran a shaky hand through my hair and looked over at the clock. The glowing red numbers illuminated back at me, telling me that it was quarter to four in the morning.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

I nodded my head quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just had that dream again. I'm fine. Sorry I woke you up. Go back to sleep."

Alice looked unconvinced. "Are you sure? You were murmuring and tossing and turning."

"I'm good. Go back to sleep. We have class in a few hours," I said, lying back down.

She was silent for a moment, and then sighed "alright" and laid back down.

I never got back to sleep. I lied on my bed, staring up into the plaster ceiling above me, unable to fall back into unconsciousness.

I had had the dream again; the dream of my parent's death. Only now, other things were mixed into the dream. The dreams took me back to when I was fifteen, when I lived with James and his parents. In the dream, James was abusing me – beating me, kicking me. And then, after that, there came the dream of the night James attacked me in the coffee shop, raping me.

I turned over onto my side as tears began to slowly trickle down the sides of my face. I was so … tired of waking up because of these dreams.

Things were so quiet that I jumped when my alarm clock went off at 6:15.

~o~

My cell rang as I walked with Alice back to our dorm room. I pulled it from my school bag and looked at the caller ID. Edward was calling. "Hey, Edward," I said.

"Hey, Bella. Want to grab some pizza and a movie tonight? It's the last night here and we should celebrate the beginning of Christmas vacation. So, what do you say?" he pleaded. I could just imagine him putting the doggy eyes on me, even though he was probably on the other side of the campus.

I smiled, and said, "Sure, I'd love to. Which movie did you want to see?"

"Eh, well, that's a surprise. So, pick you up about seven?" he asked. "That okay?"

"Yeah, seven's okay. I'll see you then," I said.

"Okay. I'll see you later. Love you," he said, and I could just imagine the goofy grin he had on his face.

I smiled. "Love you, too. Bye."

Flipping my phone shut, I looked at Alice to see her grinning. Blushing, I said, "What?"

"Nothing. You guys are just so flipping adorable, you know that? You two just … click," she said as she slapped her hands together.

We were just about at our dorm room. Alice continued as we entered it. "I think you guys have something really special. And that something is really tight, let me tell you."

Edward picked me up a few hours later, around seven. I had convinced Alice to let me alone when it came to dressing me up; all I did was brush my hair and leave it down, put in a pair of earrings, and then change into the royal blue shirt that Edward loved so much. I was beginning to not feel that great; my stomach had begun to feel queasy, and all I wanted was to feel comfortable.

"Hey, ready to go?" he asked when I opened the door.

I nodded. "Yeah, just let me grab my coat and we can go."

I grabbed the money from my last paycheck from my desk drawer and stuffed it in the middle pocket of my purse. Edward looked at me suspiciously, and I said, "What? It's for popcorn. You don't think I'm going to let you keep paying for the popcorn and the tickets, are you?"

He laughed and rolled his eyes. "I'm paying for the tickets, at least, because you have no idea what we're seeing."

Just as we were heading out of the door, Alice poked her head around the door frame and smiled at us as she said, "Have fun you two. Don't stay out too late."

Edward rolled her eyes and said, "Of course, Alice. We're just going to see a movie."

As we walked out of the dorm building and to the parking lot, Edward grabbed my hand and I smiled as he said, "I'm glad you agreed to come out with me tonight. You really need a break off from things anything stress related."

"I am, too," I said as he held open the passenger door for me.

We drove along in comfortable silence for a few moments, passing trees on both sides. It was about a ten minute drive from the campus to the central part of the town that was nearby. We had only been driving for five minutes when all of a sudden I felt my stomach turn to full on churning and I knew that I was going to throw up. My hand went to my mouth as I said, "Edward, pull over."

"Why?" he asked, turning his head to face me. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Just pull over!" I said. "Please!"

Panicked by the expression on my face, Edward pulled the car over to the side of the road. After fumbling with the car door handle for a few seconds, I shot out of the car, and fell to my knees as my lunch and breakfast came up onto the wet grass. I felt Edward's hand gather my hair back from my face to keep it out of the way while the other one rubbed my back.

When my stomach finished emptying itself, I coughed and stood up. "Sorry about that," I said as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

Edward shook his head. "That's alright. Why didn't you tell me you were feeling sick?"

I shrugged. "I was fine earlier."

He placed a hand on my forehead, checking to see if I had a fever. "You don't have a fever. How do you feel now?"

Surprisingly, I felt better. I didn't feel like my stomach was going to jump out of my throat at any second. Sure, I still felt queasy, but it wasn't that bed. Actually, I was a little hungry. "I feel fine," I said. "Just a little bit hungry, really. Maybe it was something that I ate."

Edward looked at me. "Are you sure? I can take you back to the dorm if you don't feel like going out."

I shook my head. "I'm okay. I'm feeling a lot better now. Once I get some food in me, I'll be 100% perfect."

"Alright, but you throw up again, we're going back to the college," he said.

We stopped for dinner at the local pizza place that we all loved, and ordered a medium sized pizza with pepperoni. Edward was still unconvinced that I felt fine, and looked suspicious when I ordered a ginger-ale.

Edward seemed to relax by the time we finished eating, but he still seemed worried about me. He and I were both surprised when I ate three and a half pieces of pizza (I normally ate only two pieces). "I guess you are feeling better," he chuckled.

I blushed and said, "Yeah. I normally don't eat three pieces, though." And my stomach _was_ feeling better, almost 100% better.

I was feeling a lot better by the time we got to the theater. As Edward went to get the tickets, I went to pay for the popcorn. Oddly, I was craving popcorn _so_ badly at that moment. _Strange_, I thought. _I'm not that huge of a fan of theater popcorn because it's so bad for you_. Shrugging the thought off, I ordered the popcorn with extra butter.

"So, which movie are we seeing?" I asked Edward as we headed towards the auditorium.

He handed me my ticket stub and I looked at the title. _Face Punch_ it read. I looked at my boyfriend. "_Face Punch_? Are you serious? What in the world is it about?" To me, it sounded totally retarded.

He grinned. "I have no idea. Emmett, Jasper, and I have been dying to see it, though. The reviews said it was pretty good." He held the auditorium door open for me.

I rolled my eyes. "Leave it to you three to want to see a movie that has a title like that."

It turned out I was right. The movie was absolutely horrible, but the dialogue was absolute hilarious that was actually corny. However, it was also disgusting. There were a couple of scenes that almost made my stomach turn over, but thankfully I didn't throw up.

But, to my horror, a little over halfway through the movie, my stomach started feeling sick again. On the screen, I watched as a man got stabbed in the stomach, and guts spilling out of his body. The sight of it made my stomach churn, and I felt the acid begin to rise again. _Oh, no_, I thought. _I'm going to be sick again_.

I slapped my hand over my mouth and ran quietly but quickly out of the theater auditorium. I shot into the bathroom (thankfully it was empty) and into the first stall that was empty and not disgustingly dirty. I leaned over the bowl just in time to be violently ill for the second time that night.

Tears trickled down my cheeks as I sat back from the toilet and leaned against the stall door. Why did I have to get sick tonight of all nights? I was heading back to Forks with the Cullen's in the morning. I couldn't get sick. Not now.

My stomach churned and I leaned over the toilet again.

When I was sure I wasn't going to throw up again, I picked myself up off the dirty bathroom floor and unlocked the stall door. I washed my hands and face, and then rinsed my mouth before looking at my reflection in the mirror. My face was pale, paler than normal. I had managed to pull my hair back into a messy bun when I was throwing up, and I took it out, letting my hair fall down around my shoulders.

My stomach was feeling a little better, but it still didn't feel that great.

Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair and pulled it back into a neater ponytail at the base of my neck. Oh, well. I could have looked worse.

When I walked out of the bathroom, I saw Edward leaning against the wall next to the entrance. He straightened when he saw me walk out, and put his hand on my shoulder, looking into my eyes. "Are you feeling better?"

I shrugged, giving him a weak smile. "I'm okay. I've felt better," I said quietly, trying to make light of the situation.

"We should get you back to the dorms and into bed. You won't be able to go to Forks with us if you're still sick," he said as he handed me my coat.

I nodded. "Alright. Do you mind stopping so I can get come antacid and ginger ale for my stomach?"

He shook his head. "Nope, I don't mind."

There was a drugstore on the way to the dorms, so we stopped there so I could find some antacid, gum, and ginger ale. I told Edward to wait in the car, and he reluctantly did. After I found the needed items, I headed towards the checkout counter. On my way there, I passed the feminine aisle and stopped dead in my tracks when I spotted the tampons on the third shelf.

Something clicked in the front of my brain, and I felt all of the color drain from my face. I put a hand to my mouth. I should have been watching. I should have been looking for something like this so that it wouldn't happen.

I was late.

Late for my period. I was _never_ late, even in the most stressful of times.

My eyes quickly scanned the shelves, looking for the one item that I most needed. I found it, and discovered there were several different choices. Grabbing two of the ones that looked the most promising (First Response), I hurried quickly to the check-out counter.

The old lady that was behind it eyed me suspiciously as I placed the two pregnancy tests on the counter along with the antacid and ginger ale. I ignored the stare as she rung up the items and put them in a plastic bag. "$38.81."

I pulled out two twenties from my purse and mumbled to her to keep the change, and went out to the car where Edward was waiting.

When we got back to my dorm room fifteen minutes later, I stood outside the door with Edward for a moment.

"Are you sure you're feeling better?" he asked, putting his hands gently on either side of my face. He looked truly concerned about me.

I gave him a small smile and nodded. "I am, Edward. You don't need to worry about me. I'm pretty sure that it was just something that I ate. I'll feel better in the morning."

"Alright." Edward pulled me close to his chest, wrapping his arms around me. I hugged him back as he kissed the top of my head. When I pulled back, he kissed my forehead and said, "Get some rest. I'll call you later, okay? I love you."

I smiled. "Love you, too. See you," I said as I got my key and unlocked the door.

Alice wasn't back yet, so as soon as I closed the door behind me, I grabbed the two pregnancy test boxes from the plastic bag and went into the bathroom. Thankfully, I had to pee really badly. With shaking hands, I opened the first box, and took out the instructions.

Five minutes later, I put the four pregnancy tests (two tests had come in each box) on the closed lid of the toilet and sat back against the tub to wait.

The alarm on my phone went off ten minutes later, making me jump and almost make me lose my stomach. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and grabbed the first test off the seat. Biting my lip, I slowly opened one eye and looked at the little screen. Two lines.

Two _pink_ lines.

I quickly grabbed the other three tests and saw that they were the same. I felt the color drain from my face as I took the instructions off the bathroom sink and saw that the two lines – the two _pink_ lines – meant positive.

The tests were positive.

I was pregnant.

I, Isabella Marie Swan, a freshman in college, was pregnant. At seventeen.

**Author's Note:** Well, okay, I'm not sure if this is really a cliffhanger, but I'll let you decide…

Once again, thank you guys SO much for reviewing! Please please please please please keep it up, because the story will be getting more interesting from here on out.

Next chapter: Alice finds out.

See you next chapter! Hershey Kiss Lover.

_**NEXT CHAPTER:**_

She bit her lip as more tears came to her eyes. "You know, I've never really asked for help before, because I've been too scared to ask and admit. But now … that would be nice, especially since I don't know what to do."


	13. Pregnant

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** Thank you to all who reviewed! I got such a joy out of reading them! I hope y'all enjoy this chapter and review at the end!

Chapter Twelve – … Pregnant

_**Alice Cullen**_

"So, we're going to be seeing you and Bella tomorrow? She will be coming this time, right?" asked Jasper, as we walked up to my dorm room.

I laughed. "Yeah, she will. I told her that I wouldn't leave her alone about it if she didn't come with us. And, besides, she doesn't have any place to go for Christmas vacation, and I don't really want her to stay here all by herself."

Jasper smiled and said, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Love you." He leaned in and kissed my lips.

I smiled and said, "Love you, too. See you."

As I shut the door behind me, I saw Bella's purse on the bed along with a plastic bag. The contents had spilled out on the bed spread – a bottle of antacid and ginger ale. My eyebrows wrinkled together in confusion.

"Bella?" I called out. 

"Alice?" The voice was coming from the bathroom, and it sounded shaky and watery. "Is that you?"

The bathroom door was open a little bit, and I stuck my head around the door. Bella was sitting on the bathroom floor with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her head was buried in her knees and her arms were wrapped around her legs, and there was something white clutched in her hands.

"Bella? Are you okay?" I asked. "Are you sick?"

She mumbled something, but I didn't quite catch it.

"What was that, Bella? I didn't quite catch that," I said, sitting down cross-legged on the bathroom floor in front of her.

She lifted her head. Her chocolate brown eyes were all puffy and red from crying, and her cheeks were blotchy, and half wet and half dry with tears. Her mahogany hair was pulled into a messy bun. "I said, I'm not sick." Biting her lip, she held out the white object in her hand.

It took me a second to figure out what it was, but then I saw the box on the floor next to her. "Bella, is that … ?" I let the sentence trail off.

She nodded as a fresh flow of tears trickled down her cheeks. "I'm pregnant."

My hand went to my mouth in shock. Bella was pregnant? "You're … pregnant? Are you sure? Like … 100 percent sure?"

"Alice, there are two pink on each of these tests. Two lines means pregnant," she said, showing me the little screens on each other tests.

"What led you to the idea that you were pregnant?" I asked.

Bella took a deep breath and wiped at her cheeks with the back of her sleeve. "Well, for one thing, I threw up twice earlier, and then when we stopped to get some antacid on the way back here, I spotted tampons and realized that I was late. That led me here, sitting on the bathroom floor, with four positive pregnancy tests in my hand." She bit her lip. "Alice, you have got to believe me when I tell you that I did not cheat on Edward. I love him too much to do that to him."

I looked into her eyes and saw the desperation in her eyes – and most of all, fear. It had been the correct amount of time since James's attack on her on Thanksgiving, and I knew that she would never cheat on Edward, the one man that she loved more than her own life. I nodded. "I believe you, Bella. I really do. It's from when … you know … a few weeks ago, right?"

She nodded. "Alice, I am so scared. I don't know what to do." More tears flowed out of her eyes.

I moved to sit next to her. "Sh, it'll be okay, Bella. I'm going to help you get through this. I'll be there every step of the way."

Tears leaked slowly as she looked at me. Slowly, she smiled a watery, half-hearted smile. "Thanks, Alice." She threw her arms around me and hugged me.

We sat there for a few minutes, hugging each other. When I pulled back, Bella said, "Alice, what am I going to do? I'm only seventeen. I'm a freshman in college."

I placed my hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at me. "Everything will be okay, Bella. You're not alone in this. Do you understand that?" I asked softly, and she nodded. "Good. Okay, the first step is to make an appointment with the ob-gyn. There's all sorts of stuff that you need to know."

Bella nodded. "I think you're right," she said quietly.

"I can help you figure out what you need to do." I paused a second, and then added. "Well, if … you want help that is."

She bit her lip as more tears came to her eyes. "You know, I've never really asked for help before, because I've been too scared to ask and admit. But now … that would be nice, especially since I don't know what to do."

I smiled and said, "It's always okay to ask for help, Bella, when you need it. And I, personally, would be ecstatic to help you."

All of a sudden Bella's phone rang from the bathroom sink. Her head snapped up towards it. She took the phone off of the sink and opened it. "It's Edward. Should I answer it?" She looked towards me. I nodded.

"You should talk to him," I said, giving her an encouraging smile.

Bella took a deep breath and answered the phone. "Hey, Edward. …Yeah, I'm doing okay. I'm feeling better. It was nothing. I ate something that didn't agree with my stomach. It does that sometimes."

She was silent for a moment, and then said, "Yeah, I'll be fine tomorrow. …No, nothing's wrong. I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well last night. …Okay, see you tomorrow. …Love you, too. Bye."

The phone shut with a snap as she leaned against the bathroom wall and let out a sigh. "What am I going to tell him? He's going to ditch me when I tell him about" – she swallowed hard – "the baby. Sure, he knows about the rape, my parents, but … what if he thinks I cheated on him? I can't face him tomorrow. Oh, god, what am I even going to tell him?"

Tears were once again pouring down her cheeks again, and I knew she was on the verge of hyperventilating. I squatted on my knees in front of her and placed my hands on her shoulders. "Bella," I said, shaking her shoulders a bit and making her look at me in the eyes. "Bella, everything's going to be alright."

She shook her head. "You don't know that, Alice. With my luck at living life, I might as well just … I don't know … jump off a cliff or something."

I gave her a stern look and said, "Bella, don't talk like that! Don't even think like that. You just have to have faith that everything will work out. I have a huge feeling that it will work out. Don't worry, alright?"

Bella looked at me with watery eyes for a few seconds. I could see the wheels turning in her mind as she made a decision. Then she threw her arms around me and I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her back.

She pulled back a second later. Taking a deep breath, she wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand and said, "Alright. I'm alone the world now, and I have an unexpected baby on the way that I need to take care of."

I grinned and said, "That's my girl. Come on. You don't have to worry, Bella. I'll be there every step of the way, and I'm sure that my parents will help as well."

She smiled nervously, and then said, "Alright. Let's do this."

~o~

_**Bella Swan**_

We talked for hours after that. Alice helped me figure out what I would have to do (i.e. making an appointment with the ob-gyn, etc., etc.) and helped me put together a list of those things. It took Alice around an hour to convince me that I would be alright, with the help of her, her parents, and everybody else.

There was a point when I wasn't sure if I should keep the baby or not. Alice quickly reined me in from that thought. I guess she was right. Abortion was dangerous, and I didn't want my child to go through what I had through foster care or adoption.

After, I was dead set about keeping the baby. Even though I had known that I was pregnant for only a few hours, I already loved the tiny thing growing in my stomach. I already knew that I wasn't going to let anybody hurt it, especially James.

As I lied in my bed after we went to bed (it was almost two in the morning by the time we finished talking), I stared at the ceiling and wondered how I was going to tell Edward – the one man that I loved more than anything in the world – that I had become pregnant with a child that wasn't his.

**Author's Note:** I hope you all enjoyed it!

As always, please review, or I might not update….

Next chapter: The Cullen's house! Until then, enjoy the snow (if you're in a place where there is snow; where I am it's snowing a torrential downpour, and it ain't rain!) and watch The X-Files (I recently got addicted to the show!)!

See you next time! Hershey Kiss Lover.


	14. The Cullen Mansion

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** Thank you everyone who reviewed! It means so much to me that people actually like the story!

This chapter is kind of a filler, but one more person finds out about Bella's "secret".

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and review at the end please!

Chapter Thirteen – The Cullen Mansion

_**Bella Swan**_

I woke up early the next morning. I had woken up several times during the night from nightmares, and, giving up the thought of sleep, I got up and grabbed my shower supplies. Thankfully, my stomach was calm that morning, and I was hoping that it would stay that way.

As I stood under the rain of hot water, I let a thought come over me. I was going to have to tell Edward sometime about the baby. He would catch on sooner or later if I didn't tell him, and I didn't want to ruin his Christmas vacation. With me having morning sickness, there _was_ no doubt that he would figure it out; I mean, the guy was studying to be a doctor, for God's sake. He would know.

My hand went to my stomach, and I looked down at it.

There was a baby in there. A teeny person that I would have provide for. A teeny person that I loved already with all of my heart.

By the time I finished my shower twenty minutes later, I felt better, rejuvenated. I quickly got dressed into some jeans and a long sleeved shirt. Before I walked out of the bathroom, I looked in the mirror. My eyes looked tired, but luckily they didn't have any bags under them which I was thankful for. I quickly towel-dried my hair, and then pulled it into a pony-tail, not wanting to do anything fancy with it and knowing that it wouldn't co-operate if I did.

A couple minutes before Alice and I were about to leave the dorm room, the baby had decided that it wanted some attention, and forced me to run to the bathroom.

We arrived at the meeting place almost ten minutes late, my mouth minty fresh from a piece of Alice's gum. As we approached the cars, Edward came up to me and put his arm around my shoulder.

"Are you feeling any better this morning, Bella?" he asked.

I looked at him and nodded. "Uh … yeah. It was nothing." I saw Alice shoot me a look, but I ignored it.

"Come on, let's hit the road. I can practically smell Esme's home-cooked food," Emmett said.

We were taking two separate cars, the three guys in the Volvo, and us girls in Rosalie's BMW (with the hood up, of course, since the temperature outside was nearing about 10 degrees). This I was grateful for. My stomach was still recovering from my episode of morning sickness, and I didn't really want to be in a fast moving car.

Rosalie and Alice sat in the front seat and I lounged in the back in the middle seat.

"We totally need to go shopping in Port Angeles after Christmas. That's when all the good sales are," Alice said, fifteen minutes after we left the parking lot.

"Yes, definitely," Rosalie said. "Maybe we can get Esme to come."

"Ooh, Bella, there's baby store in Port Angeles that we should totally check out when we're there. You can see all the -. Oops. I wasn't supposed to say anything, was I?" she asked, putting her hand to her mouth and turning in her seat to look at me.

I sent her a glare. "Alice!"

Rosalie looked confused. "Why would we check out the baby store?"

I slapped a hand to my forehead and Alice let loose a huge grin as she looked at me. "Bella?"

"Bella?" Rosalie turned around briefly to look at me.

_I cannot believe this is happening right now_, I thought as I said in a low voice, "Because I'm pregnant, Rosalie. I found out last night."

"Oh, my god," she said.

"Please don't say anything to Edward. I'm not ready for him to know yet. And before you say anything, no it is not his and no I didn't cheat on him," I said.

Rosalie was silent for a second. Then she bit her lip and said cautiously, "It's uh, James's … right?"

I nodded silently.

"Are you, uh, going to keep it?" she asked.

I nodded again. "I have no idea how I'm going to be able to do it, but I'm gonna keep it."

~o~

It was an hour long drive to the Cullen's house (where Jasper and Rosalie were staying for the holidays, as well), and during that drive I talked happily with Alice and Rosalie about a lot of stuff. They sensed that I didn't really want to talk about the baby, though, just yet, so they steered clear of the subject – even though I could tell that Alice was dying to talk about it.

We followed behind the boys, and we all made it to the Cullen's house at the same time.

The house was gorgeous – and humungous. It was a creamy white, with a railing porch at the front of the house going around the side of it, with a whicker couch on one end. There was a huge circular dirt driveway in front of the house, and I could see trees in the distance. If I listened closely enough, I could hear a river close by.

It was absolutely beautiful.

Rosalie, Alice, and I had arrived first. The boys had decided to take a detour, and when they called they said they would be about half an hour later. Deciding we didn't want to know what they were doing, we didn't ask. We left our bags in the car for now and headed into the house.

"Hey, mom, we're home!" Alice called out as we walked into the big front entrance.

There was a beautiful alabaster staircase that led upstairs, adding the effect of the already beautiful house. Inside was so light and open, and I could tell that this house was a home full of coziness.

Esme was the only one home then. She came out of the kitchen, an apron covered with flour on. "Finally, you're here. You're just in time for lunch. Your father tried to here, but the hospital called him in. He will be here for supper, so all of you plan on being here tonight. Where are the boys?"

"They took a detour about fifteen minutes ago. Said that they would be home a half hour late. We didn't ask what they were doing," Rosalie said. "We took separate cars."

Esme shook her head and hugged each of us. When she came to me last, she gave me a tight hug. When she pulled me away, she put me at arm's length and said, "I'm so glad you came, Bella."

"Thank you for having me. You have a beautiful house," I said.

"Thank you, Bella. And you're welcome. Know that you're absolutely welcome here at any time," she said, giving me a warm, motherly smile. "Well, I guess we'll just have to eat without the boys. They'll have to eat when they get here. Go and bring your bags in and take them to your rooms, then come and have lunch. It'll be ready in about five minutes."

After we got our bags from the car, we headed upstairs.

I was in the guest room next to Alice's bedroom. It was a spacious room, very cozy. It was larger than the dorm, and there was a large king sized bed, as well as an adjoining bathroom. There was a large double window on the wall across from the doorway, and it looked out at a large portion of the grassy area surrounding the house.

"I'm right next door, and Edward's room is down the hall a ways. I'll give you a tour after lunch," Alice said. "Let's go eat." She paused for a second, and then added, "Are you up for eating? Esme's food is amazing! She's making homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese and ham sandwiches."

I shrugged. "Weird as it might seem, I'm starving."

Alice laughed as we headed out of the room. "I figured."

The sandwiches smelled absolutely amazing, though the smell of the soup made me slightly nauseous. I declined politely on the soup (I knew that tomato soup was acidic, and I didn't exactly want to throw up) and only at the sandwiches. The sandwiches were cut in half and I think I had about four halves.

Lunch went smoothly. Esme was very gracious; I knew that from the first time I met her on the first day of college. I could instantly tell that she was the motherly type.

We were just finishing lunch when the boys arrived.

"Hey, you ate without us?" Emmett complained as they came into the kitchen. "And with the tomato soup?"

Esme smiled and said, "Well, you took a detour, and everything would have gotten cold. There are more sandwiches keeping warm in the toaster oven and there's more soup on the stove."

~o~

Later that night, after a supper of pasta sauce covered swirly noodles (Esme had layered the noodles in a casserole dish and put it in the oven with mozzarella cheese), I was in Alice's room. Alice, Rosalie, and I were wrapping our gifts for the boys, talking, and listening to cheesy Christmas music. The boys were somewhere downstairs, playing X-box.

"So, Bella, when are you going to tell Edward about the … uh … you know," Alice asked, gesturing with her hand towards my stomach.

I paused in the middle of putting a piece of tape on the red wrapped gift, caught by surprise by Alice's question. I shrugged and went back to wrapping. "I'm not particularly sure. I was thinking maybe after we get back to school."

"What?" Alice asked, shocked. "You're going to wait that long?"

I nodded my head.

"Why?" Rosalie asked.

I sighed. "I don't want to ruin his – and everybody else's – Christmas vacation by telling that I'm having a baby that isn't even his."

"He's going to figure it out eventually, Bella," Alice said. "You might as well tell him before he starts getting suspicious and he hears it from the wrong source."

"And with you eating more than you normally do … everybody's going to figure it out," Rosalie said.

I was silent for a moment while I finished wrapping Edward's gift, three piano books – each about a hundred pages long – that were filled with old classical songs and tunes and lullabies. I had spotted it in the window of the music store in the mall when we were Christmas shopping.

Finally, I sighed and said, "It's just … I wouldn't exactly know what to say without him freaking out and breaking up with me."

Rosalie snorted as Alice said, "He's not going to break up with you."

I gave her a doubtful look. "And how would you know that?"

Rosalie and Alice looked at each other for a few seconds before Rosalie turned to me and said, "Bella, do you love Edward?"

I nodded. "With all of my heart."

"Do you love the baby?" Alice asked.

I nodded again.

"He's loves you, Bella, with every flipping fiber in his being. He's not going to break up with you," Rosalie said.

"You're having a baby, Bella. The most precious gift a woman can receive in their life. Edward believes that," Alice said.

Tears had sprung to my eyes, and I wiped them away with my eyes. Stupid hormones. "I guess you two are right, but I think I'm gonna wait at least until after Christmas to tell him," I said.

Alice leaned forward and hugged me. "Good girl."

We sat in silence for a couple of seconds before Alice asked, "Hey, Bella, after you tell Edward and once the rest of the guys know … can we go shopping for the baby?" From the tone of her voice, she was absolutely thrilled about the prospect that I was going to keep the baby.

I groaned fell backwards on the bed, grabbing one of Alice's pillows and covering my face with it while Rosalie giggled.

**Author's Note:** Well, okay, not the most exciting chapter there is in this story, but like I said at the beginning, this chapter is sort of a filler.

As a little reminder, I know a whole lot of you really like this story, and I would hate to take it down. So, in order for you to get the next chapter, PLEASE REVIEW!

Until then, divulge in Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffins, watch The X-Files, and drink chocolate milk.

See you guys next chapter! Hershey Kiss Lover.


	15. Telling Edward

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

Chapter Fourteen – Telling Edward

_**Bella Swan**_

_I was in a meadow, surrounded by the greenest grass imaginable and the prettiest wild flowers. I was sitting Indian style on the ground, wearing my light blue plaid pajama pants and a plain grey T-shirt. The sun was shining, making the meadow even more beautiful. My hair, which was tied in a pony-tail, was blowing slightly in the breeze. _

_It was then that I felt something in my stomach area. I looked down, confused. My stomach was small, but round. Smiling softly, I brought my hand to my stomach and began rubbing it. _

_A feeling of happiness spread through me when I felt something nudge me from inside. _

_It was the baby. _

"_Hi, baby," I said to my stomach. The baby inside me kicked at the sound of my voice. "You like the sound of my voice, huh?"_

_And that's when I heard footsteps. I looked up, and saw Edward walked towards me from the other side of the meadow. On his face was the smile that I loved. I smiled back to him and waved. "Hey, Edward," I said._

"_Bella," he said, approaching me. _

_Then he spotted me rubbing my stomach and said, "What are you doing?" _

_I smiled and motioned for him to give me his hand. He hesitantly obliged and I placed it on my stomach on the place where I had felt the baby kick. "Do you feel that? It's the baby. It's kicking."_

_A look that was a mixture of horror and confusion came to his face. "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant, Bella?"_

_I tilted my head. "I was scared to tell you."_

_His expression turned angry. "But you didn't tell me. I thought you trusted me, Bella. How could you keep something like this from me?"_

"_I'm sorry," I said, confused as to why he was so angry. _

"_I don't think I'll be able to be there for you, Bella. I'm sorry. I only came here to tell you good-bye," he said. He slid his finger down my cheek, stood up, and disappeared into the woods. _

_I stood up and began chasing after him. "Edward! Wait!" I ran after him. I ran until all of a sudden, there was no ground under me anymore and I found myself in the body of a chicken, falling and falling into a pit of darkness… _

My eyes snapped open and I sat up in bed, disoriented and breathing hard. It took me a moment to realize that I was in the guest room at the Cullen's house, and I hadn't fallen off a cliff. I took a few deep, calming breaths to steady my breathing, but realized that it was not helping the churning in my stomach that was now beginning to register in my brain. I looked at the clock on the bedside table and saw that it was only half past four in the morning.

I laid back down on the bed and curled into a tight ball, hoping to ignore the nausea in my stomach and fall back asleep. No such luck. My stomach revolted and I shot off the bed and into the adjoining bathroom and shut the door. I made it to the toilet in time for my stomach to begin emptying itself.

I stayed there for a good fifteen minutes while the nausea – both morning sickness and horrified nausea from the dream – ran its course. When it passed, I flushed the toilet and sat against the wall next to the toilet, closing my eyes.

Was that dream sending me a subliminal message?

There was a knock on the bathroom door and I felt my heart rate pick up. Was it Edward?

"Bella?"

My heart rate went down. It was only Alice. Sighing, I shakily stood and went to open the door. "Hi, Alice," I said, giving her a little wave as I walked past her and towards the bed. I sat down on the edge. Alice came over and sat next to me.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I nodded silently. I was silent for a moment more before I said, "I had dream that I didn't tell Edward about the baby and when he found out, he left me. I ran after him, but I ended up falling off a cliff. And do you know what was weird? As I was falling, my body was the body of a chicken."

Alice raised her eyebrows in amusement. "You fell off a cliff?" I nodded. "In the form of a chicken?" I nodded again. "Would you be mad if I laughed?"

I laughed half-heartedly and said, "It's like the dream was sending me a subliminal message that I have to tell Edward about the baby."

Alice patted my knee encouragingly. "You do need to tell him, Bella."

I nodded my head solemnly. "I know I do."

"We should also talk to Carlisle in the morning after breakfast. Him and Esme, and tell them what's happening. Carlisle would probably be able to give you the name of a good obstetrician near school," Alice said.

I nodded again, solemnly. "Would you guys happen to have any crackers downstairs?"

Alice nodded. "We have some saltines in the food cupboard. Come on, I'll find them for you."

Not wanting to disturb anyone, we walked quietly and quickly down to the kitchen.

When we entered the kitchen, we saw Esme and Carlisle at the Island, talking quietly. They looked up when we came in. "Hello, girls," Esme said, her always warm smile on her face. "What are you two doing up so early?"

"Do we have any saltine crackers?" Alice asked. "Bella's got a bit of an upset stomach."

Immediately, Esme got a look of concern on her face as she got up from the stool she was sitting on and started looking for the saltine crackers. She grabbed a package from the box in the cupboard and walked back over to the Island. "You've a bit of a stomach ache?" The worry in her voice seemed genuine.

"Yeah," I said, shrugging as Alice and I sat down at the Island. "It's nothing bad, though."

Esme placed the package of crackers on the Island top. "Here you go. These should help settle your stomach."

"Thanks," I said and took a cracker from the package.

"Have you been feeling sick for long, Bella?" Carlisle asked, taking a sip from his cup of coffee (the smell of which was making me feel sick). He, too, seemed genuinely worried.

I shrugged and said, "Only a couple of days. It's nothing, though."

Carlisle looked at his watch and took one last drink from his cup. "Well, I got to go. I will be home about three, and then I am off for the next three days." He got up, kissed Esme's cheek and then turned to me. "Bella, I hope you feel better soon. And, stop by the office this afternoon around one if you're still feeling sick, alright? I'll be on my break then."

I gave him a smile and said, "Okay. Thanks."

A minute later we heard the front door shut.

Esme got up from the Island, grabbing the two coffee cups. As she put them in the sink, she said, "Now, Bella, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

I bit into my fourth saltine cracker, shrugging. "Shoot."

She sat back down across from Alice and me and said, "Now I hope this isn't too personal, but have you known very long?"

Alice and I shared a confused glance. "Uh, known what?" I asked. I was thoroughly confused. Did she somehow know that I was pregnant?

"About the baby," Esme said.

I felt my face drain as I shifted uncomfortably on the stool. I bit into another cracker to keep my mind focused on something other than the motherly figure sitting across from me. "How did you -?"

Esme smiled her always warm smile. "I have had a baby before, Bella. Twice. And I have a few friends with babies. I recognize the symptoms of pregnancy easily. I know what a pale face means when I see one. And I could see you turn visibly green at the tomato soup yesterday afternoon. And I could also sense it when you first stepped into this house."

I blushed.

"Does Edward know?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Not yet. I've only known since the night before yesterday."

"She is planning on telling him, though. Soon," Alice said, shooting a pointed glance at me.

"I didn't want to ruin everybody's Christmas if Edward took it badly, considering that the baby isn't … his," I said, biting into another saltine cracker. When have they tasted so good? "And especially since I'm keeping it …." I didn't want to finish the sentence.

"You should tell him, Bella. I raised him well, and I can guarantee you that the gentleman part of him will overtake the stupidity side of him, and he will be a gentleman about it," Esme said, causing a small smile to creep up onto my face.

She got up from the Island and said, "He'll understand, Bella. Trust me. Everything will work out." She patted my hand and headed out of the kitchen.

Alice and I sat there for a couple moments more as I began my tenth saltine cracker.

"She's right, you know," Alice said. "You should go tell him now, get it done and over with."

I looked at her, sighing. "Right now?" She nodded. "It's quarter past five. He's still asleep." I caught the look on her face, and sighed again, stuffing the last of the saltine cracker into my mouth and added. "But you're right. The more I put off telling him, I'm going to get too afraid to tell him."

Before I knew it, I was standing in front of Edward's bedroom door. I turned my head and looked to see Alice giving me an encouraging glance before heading into her own bedroom across the hall. Sighing, I turned back to the door. I took a deep breath and opened it a bit, poking my head around the side of it.

"Edward?" I called softly into the dark room.

_**Edward Cullen**_

A soft voice filtered through my brain, waking me up. I smiled as I recognized it as my angel's voice. Opening my eyes, I saw her in the doorway, with my door open a little bit. I sat up and switched on the lamp that was on the bedside table.

"Hey, Bella," I said, giving her a smile.

She smiled back and said, "Hey. Can I come in for a second?" She looked nervous somehow.

"Sure," I said.

Bella opened the door the rest of the way and came in. Shutting the door behind her, she made her way over to my bed. As she sat down cross legged on my bed, she smiled and said softly, "I'm sorry I woke you up so early."

I glanced at my clock. It was only quarter past five. I shrugged and grinned. She smiled back half-heartedly and looked down at her hands. Then she looked back up at me and said, "Edward, there's something I have to tell you."

She was biting her lip, something she did only when she was anxious or nervous about something. In her eyes, I could see fear and plain tiredness. I knew that she hadn't been sleeping well ever since what had happened, but I couldn't decipher where the fear came from.

"I'm not sure how to tell you, so I'm just going to say it straight out. I'm pregnant."

**Author's Note:** So… How did everybody like this chapter? I think it could be considered a filler of sorts. Sorry that I left it at a cliffhanger, but all stories have that, right?

Anyway, what will Edward say? To find out, you need to review review review, or I'm not going to be posting anymore (which I would really hate to do, so please push the review button!).

I found out that there's a Cutaneous Abcess on my back. There's been a bump there for the last several days and it like blew up to a very painful golf ball sized bump over the course of 24 hours. Please pray that it goes down quickly because this thing if freaking painful!

See you next chapter! Hershey Kiss Lover.


	16. An Early Morning Talk

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone who reviewed. You guys really do not know how much it means to me when I see a review alert in my e-mail inbox!

Please read and review!

Chapter Fifteen – An Early Morning Talk

_**Edward Cullen**_

"_I'm pregnant ... I'm pregnant … I'm pregnant_."

Those two single words ran through my mind as I sat there on my bed, thoroughly still and motionless. I was frozen. She was pregnant?

"Edward?"

I realized that my mouth was open and I quickly closed it, clearing my throat and scratching the back of my neck. I opened and closed my mouth several times, but I found myself not able to articulate any words to say to her.

"_I'm pregnant … I'm pregnant … I'm pregnant_."

Several times the words ran through my mind, as I sat there, staring at my Bella's face. When I realized – probably too late – that my shocked silence was not what should have happened, I saw that tears were forming in Bella's warm, chocolate brown eyes. Before I could say anything, she got off the bed and started walking towards my door.

I quickly got off of my bed and caught her elbow, causing her to stop before she got to the door. She turned around and I could see the tears were beginning to cascade down her cheeks. I pulled her to the bed and sat her down on the end of the bed, and then sat down next to her. I pulled her against my chest and wrapped my arms around her.

"I'm so … sorry," she whispered. Her voice was thick with tears, and her shoulders and small frame was shaking from her quiet sobs.

I gently rocked her back and forth, holding her in my arms and letting her cry. Her tears soaked my shirt, but I didn't care. I hated seeing her in pain, and knowing that I had caused her to cry because of my silence, it made me feel all the more worse and more and more helpless.

After a while, her crying subsided and leaned back from my chest, wiping her cheeks dry with the back of her hand. She saw my shirt and new tears appeared in her watery eyes as she said, "Oh, your shirt, Edward, I'm so sorry."

I shook my head. "It's alright. It's only a shirt," I said, wiping a stray tear from her cheek with my thumb.

"Edward, I'm sorry," she said. "I mean, I understand completely if you want absolutely nothing more to do with me."

"Bella, what are you talking about?" I asked.

"I mean, I'm pregnant. You should want nothing to do with me. I'm no good anymore," she said.

What? She thought that, because she was pregnant, I wouldn't want her anymore? Was she insane?

Nobody could describe the love that I felt for the woman sitting in front of me on my bed. The moment I met her, I wanted to know more about her. I wanted everything to do with her because she was my whole world. Nothing – and I meant nothing – could tear me away from my love for Bella. I loved her with every single freaking fiber in my being. Just because she was pregnant … it didn't change any of my feelings for her. All I wanted to do was to help her in any way that I could, and maybe even help raise the baby.

Tears were falling down her cheeks again. "Bella …." I cupped her face gently in my hands, wiping the tears away from her cheeks with my thumbs as they fell. "Bella, I love you, so much. Nothing is ever going to change that. Just because you're now pregnant doesn't mean that I'm going to dump you or anything."

"You don't think I cheated on you, do you?" she asked, her voice shaking.

I would have laughed, but she looked serious. I shook my head. "I know that you would never do such a thing to me. I would never do that to you. It's James's … isn't it? When he … ?" I didn't finish the sentence, seeing Bella flinch when I started mentioned _his_ name.

She nodded silently. "I'm so sorry, Edward. I didn't even think to look out for it, make sure it didn't happen. And now it has, and I'm so sorry to put you through this. I mean, they gave me the after pill that supposedly helps prevent pregnancy, but it only works 95% of the time. And, apparently I fall in the other 5% percent."

"Bella, you don't have to be sorry about anything. You couldn't have prevented that night from happening, and you couldn't have prevented _this_" – I gestured towards her flat stomach – "from happening."

Bella was silent for a moment. When she spoke, she wrapped her around her stomach and said, "You're not mad?"

I shook my head. Actually, I was far from mad; I wasn't even angry, or even furious. "I mean, I am mad at … James for doing what he did to you, but at you … never."

We moved to the top of my bed, where we could be more comfortable. Bella curled into my side and I wrapped my arms around her, kissing the top of her head. For several minutes, we sat in silence, both of us wrapped up in our thoughts.

Finally, I said, "So, that's … uh … that's why you were sick the other night?" It was half a question, half rhetorical.

Bella's head moved up and down against my chest, so I knew she had nodded. "Yeah. I guess I'm one the lucky, lucky women who get morning sickness with pregnancy."

I chuckled. "I think a great percentage of women who are pregnant get morning sickness. Quite unfortunately, it's quite a normal thing to happen."

She chuckled darkly, with sarcastic humor mixed in. "Yeah. Quite unfortunately."

We were silent for a moment longer, and then she said, "I have no idea what I should do now."

"Well, you should probably be seen by a doctor, to make sure everything is okay with you and … the baby is healthy and everything. I can take you to see Carlisle this afternoon," I said. "He can check you out, make sure you have the proper vitamins and such and get you an appointment with an obstetrician near college." I hesitated a second before adding, "You're, uh, not going to have an abortion are you?"

Bella turned her head to look at me. She shook her head. "Edward, I couldn't dream of doing that. I'm not going to put it up for adoption either. I had a crappy childhood, and I don't want this … baby to go through what I went through."

I nodded my head. I understood completely, even though I never had to endure what had happened to Bella. Personally, I couldn't dream of putting my own child up for adoption, or abort it. It was totally wrong.

"I want to raise this child. I know that I have no money or no family, even a place to live … but somehow, I already love this child, and … I know in my heart that I have to raise him or her, even if I have no idea how to," she said.

I moved so I could sit in front of her.

"Bella," I said. "I love you, more than anything in this world. If you'll let me, I would like to help you in any way that I can." Esme and Carlisle had raised me to be a gentleman, and I was planning on being just that.

Tears welled up in her eyes again and spilled over as she wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her wet face in my shoulder. I placed my lips on top of her hair, breathing in the scent of her strawberry shampoo, a scent that I loved more than any other scent in the world.

For a while I held her in my arms on my bed, just holding her and kissing the top of her hair every now and then. It was about quarter of six when I heard her breathing slow. I looked down at her and saw her eyes closed.

She was sleeping.

A smile crept onto my face, and I kissed the top of her head once more before saying, "I love you, Bella."

"I love you, too, Edward," came her mumbled reply.

I couldn't tell if it was in her sleep or not, but I didn't care; my smile grew bigger at her words and I held her closer as I myself drifted off into sleep.

**Author's Note:** Well, there's a little bit of fluff for you. Were any of you surprised at his reaction?

I'll put the next chapter up as soon as I get at least four reviews. I know that people read this story and as I say at the end of every chapter, you guys need to review in order to find out what happens next. So … PUSH THE REVIEW BUTTON!

See you next chapter! Hershey Kiss Lover.

_**NEXT CHAPTER:**_

"What am I going to do if this turns out to be real?"


	17. The Appointment with Carlisle

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** You guys made me so happy that I'm rewarding you with a chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter Sixteen – The Appointment with Carlisle

_**Edward Cullen**_

I woke up a couple of hours later – my alarm clock read 8:30 – to find Bella still curled up against my side with her arm around my waist and her head on my chest. Her breathing was slow and deep; she was still asleep.

A smile appeared on my face as I kissed the top of her head softly. Her head moved slightly at the touch and she breathed in deep. Her eyes opened, and when she saw me looking at her, she smiled slightly and said, "Hey."

"Hi," I said back.

My stomach grumbled then, causing us both to laugh. "Are you up for some breakfast?" I asked.

Bella thought about it for a second, and then said, "I guess. I'm not particularly hungry, but I suppose I should probably eat something besides saltine crackers."

I nodded. "You should. Let's get changed and go down. I'm sure Esme is cooking up some breakfast right now."

We both met in the hallway five minutes later, both in clean clothes. Bella had changed into some jeans and a light brown shirt with long sleeves and had pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck. Even though she was only wearing simple clothes, I couldn't see a more beautiful person.

Esme was scrambling some eggs and cooking bacon when we entered the kitchen a moment later. She smiled when she saw us. "Good morning, you two," she said.

"Morning, Esme," Bella said quietly as I said, "Morning, Mom."

Bella and I were sitting down at the table with plates of scrambled eggs and toast just as the others came in the kitchen. A beaming smile grew on Alice and Rosalie's faces when they saw me and Bella sitting next to each other. Alice flashed a smile at Bella, who returned it.

_**Bella Swan**_

It was nice to sit down and eat breakfast, and watch how the Cullen's and Hale's interacted with each other at home. I sat there, silent, just watching them talk with each other and laugh at Emmett's daftness. I munched on toast while I did this. My stomach was still a little unsteady, and the smell of the eggs weren't helping, so I stayed clear of that and only ate four halves of buttered toast.

Everybody wandered off after breakfast. The three boys wandered off into the living room to do something, and I wandered off upstairs, thinking I would lay down for a few minutes so I could calm down my stomach.

Just as I was about to fall into a little doze a few minutes later, I heard my door open and then felt the bed sag a little bit as two bodies sat down at the edge of the bed. Sighing, I rolled over onto my back and sat up, seeing that Alice and Rosalie had followed me up. _Well, so much for wanting to sleep for a few minutes_, I thought.

"So, did you tell Edward?" Alice asked.

I nodded.

"And?" Rosalie prodded.

"He actually took it very well, surprisingly. He didn't say anything at first, and then the shock wore off and he was … very sweet," I said.

"So you guys are still together?" Rosalie asked.

I blushed and nodded.

Alice clapped her hands together and said, "Yes, I knew it. See, I told you, Bella, that he wouldn't break up with you. He loves you too much to do that."

Edward popped his head in just then, asking us if we wanted to play Ultimate Chess with him and the guys. Alice and Rosalie immediately said yes, and got off the bed. As we were heading downstairs, I asked what 'Ultimate Chess' was. Edward explained, saying that it was three rounds of chess, where four people would play a game of chess separately, and, whoever the winner was of the two games would face off in a third and final game.

"It can get pretty intense," he said.

And it was.

Emmett and Rosalie opted out of the game, saying that they would rather watch the game this time and play another time. This meant I was in.

Jasper and Alice were the first ones to play a game of chess. Alice tried to conquer, but in the end, Jasper beat her and got a place in the final round. When it was mine and Edward's turn, I had the sneaky suspicion that Edward was letting me win, even though I was actually a pretty good chess player. I was shocked, however when I beat him.

I was slightly nervous going up against Jasper, but he promised to go easy on me.

The others watched on in high anticipation, wanting to see who would win.

At one point at the end of the game, he started cackling with laughter as he moved to take out one of my chess pieces, and did so. But his laughter abruptly stopped when I moved my piece and checked the king, and realized that I had beaten him.

Jasper was very polite about it, and offered me a congratulatory handshake.

"Who's up to a game of Twister?" Emmett called out.

~o~

_**Edward Cullen**_

It was about quarter past noon when Bella and I headed out to go see Carlisle. We stopped in the kitchen to tell Esme, who was putting wet clothes into the dryer, where we were going. She told Bella good luck, and asked us to stop on the way home at the store to get some milk, eggs, flour, and bread.

A half hour later, we approached my father's office. We went in through the door, stepping into the room that adjoined to my father's office, and where his secretary was.

Shirley, the secretary, looked up when we entered and smiled. "Hello, Edward. Who's this?"

"This is my girlfriend, Bella. She's staying with us for the holidays before we go back to school," I said, introducing Bella to Shirley. "Bella, this is Shirley, my dad's secretary."

"It's nice to meet you," Bella said shyly, holding out her hand for Shirley to shake. She shook it.

"And you. Your father's in his office if you want him," Shirley said.

"Thanks, Shirley," I said, grabbing Bella's hand gently and walking over to the door to Carlisle's office. I reached my hand up and knocked on the wooden door. A voice from within called out for us to come in and we entered.

Carlisle was sitting at his desk, reading a newspaper and sipping coffee from a Styrofoam cup. He looked up when we entered and he gave us a warm smile. He set down the newspaper and coffee as he said, "Hello, you two. What can I do for you this afternoon?"

I looked at Bella, silently encouraging her to tell Carlisle, but she hesitated. She kept trying to say something, but didn't seem to be able to get the words out. She looked helplessly at me and I took over. "Well, we were wondering if you could confirm something for us," I said.

"And that would be?" Carlisle asked.

"We think that Bella … might be pregnant," I said, and Bella nodded beside me.

My father, being the kind man that he was, didn't pry. Instead, he turned into his doctor form and asked gently, "Have you taken a pregnancy test?"

Bella nodded. "I took four the night before last. All four were positive."

Carlisle seemed to brood over something for a few seconds, and then he said, "Well, considering that you took four home tests and got all positive, it may be quite likely that you are pregnant. But, those tests aren't always 100 percent correct. There is a test that I can do that can confirm it, Bella, if you want it confirmed."

Bella nodded again.

"Okay, then. If you'll follow me, I can take you to an exam room and do the test there," Carlisle said, getting up from his desk and heading out to Shirley's desk, us following behind him.

After telling Shirley to hold his calls, Carlisle led us down the hallway to an examination room that was filled with pictures of babies growing in the womb and an ultrasound machine and all of the necessary equipment needed to do confirmation tests for pregnancy. While he washed his hands in the little sink that was there, he said, "Now, I'm going to do a simple blood test. It's the most accurate way of confirming a pregnancy."

Bella's face immediately paled at the word 'blood'.

"A … blood … test?" she said weakly.

Carlisle nodded. "Yes."

"I'm not too good with blood," she replied. "I apologize beforehand if I throw up."

"Not to worry, Bella. It'll be over before you know it," Carlisle said, chuckling softly as he grabbed the equipment. "You can squeeze Edward's hand if you'd like."

He instructed her to pull the sleeve of her shirt. After putting the elastic thing on her arm and sterilizing her arm, he said, "You're going to feel a bit of a sharp pinch, Bella."

Bella buried her face in my shoulder and I took her hand in mine comfortingly.

"All done," Carlisle said as he took the needle out of her arm and taping a piece of gauze over the bleeding spot. "You did very well, Bella."

She smiled weakly.

"I'll take the blood sample to the lab. We should know the results in about a half an hour," Carlisle said.

After he left the room, I asked Bella, "Are you alright?" My voice held a bit of amusement.

She nodded her head. "I'm alright. I'm not very good with blood. It makes me nauseous and light headed. I should be fine in a few minutes."

For the next half hour we waited for Carlisle to return. Gradually, the color came back to Bella's face. She avoided looking at the pictures on the walls, instead looking at the tiles on the floor. Neither of us spoke, but after we had been waiting about twenty-five minutes, she suddenly spoke.

"What am I going to do if this turns out to be real?" Bella whispered, still staring at the tiled floor.

I was silent for a few seconds.

And then I said, "I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out. I'll be there every step of the way." I gently took her small, clammy hand in my large one.

She turned her head to look at me when she felt my skin on hers. She smiled softly.

The door opened then and Carlisle entered, a folder tucked under his arm. He smiled at us as he sat down on the little rolling stool. I squeezed Bella's hand, hoping to give her some sort of comfort. "Well, Bella, I have the results right here and it turns out that you are definitely pregnant. You are just over four weeks, so that makes the conception date at about Thanksgiving."

"I thought so," Bella murmured.

"Bella, would you happen to know who the father is?" Carlisle asked.

Bella looked up at him. "It's not Edward's, if that's what you're thinking. It happened on Thanksgiving, when … James" – she flinched slightly when she said _his_ name – "raped me."

Carlisle got a look of sympathy and asked, "Do you know if they've had any luck in finding him?"

Tears were beginning to brim in her eyes, and she looked away and shook her head. "He hides pretty well."

I sensed that she didn't want to talk about it anymore, and, probably sensing it as well, Carlisle said, "I'm assuming that you're going to keep the baby, Bella?"

Bella nodded.

"Okay. You'll need to make an appointment with an obstetrician as soon as you get back to college. I can give you the name of an obstetrician at Grace Hospital that is highly recommended. I trust her completely, and I'm sure that you'd been in good hands with her. I'm also going to give you a prescription for some prenatal vitamins. They'll help with the growth of the baby and help with the nutrients."

As he said this, he wrote out a prescription of the prescription pad and ripped it off, giving it to Bella, who took it.

A few minutes later, we walked out of the room. Carlisle handed Bella some pamphlets and brochures. "I thought that you'd find these interesting to read through." He looked at his watch. "Well, I got to get back to work. I'll see you two later at home, alright?"

"Alright," I said.

"Thanks, Carlisle," Bella said.

"You're welcome, Bella," he said. He gave her a smile and turned to go down the hallway.

**Author's Note:** Well, there you have it! Bella's pregnancy has been confirmed. I hope you all enjoyed it!

I was so happy when I opened my email time after time to find either a review or a favorite story or story alert. It made me smile a lot! Keep it up! I really mean it that I don't update when I don't get reviews, so please KEEP ON REVIEWING!

Next Chapter: A familiar character makes an appearance! (But don't worry….)

See you guys next chapter! Hershey Kiss Lover


	18. Jacob Black

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** I do apologize for the shortness of this chapter. I just didn't know what to write with the scene. But I hope the fact that the character that shows up in this chapter makes up for it!

I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. You guys don't know how much it means to me, so keep em coming!

Please enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen – Jacob Black

_**Bella Swan**_

I was silent as we drove to the local pharmacy to drop off the prescription for the prenatal vitamins, and then to the supermarket in town. I stared out the window, absorbed in my own thoughts. In less than eight months I was going to be a mother. When I was only seventeen. I, Isabella Swan, was going to have a little, innocent being that I was going to have to provide for.

Now that the pregnancy had been confirmed and I knew that I was indeed pregnant … it all finally hit me, the reality of it all – I was on my own in the world and I had no home to bring the baby up in.

It was terrifying.

"You're awfully quiet," Edward said as he pulled into the supermarket's parking lot. "Are you alright?"

I shrugged. "I'm alright," I said quietly, not looking away from the window. Tears were beginning to form in my eyes, and I didn't want him to see that I was crying.

Edward pulled into an empty parking space and shut off the engine. I heard his keys jingle as he took them out of the ignition, and then I felt his hands take hold of my left hand.

"Bella?"

I wiped the single tear that spilled over away with the back of my hand and said, "I'm fine." I still didn't look at him.

"Bella, look at me."

His soft, gentle voice made me turn my head to face him.

"Tell me what you're thinking," he said, lifting his hand and wiping away with his thumb the tears were spilling over.

I was silent, contemplating what I should say to him. After a moment, I said, "It's nothing. I just …. " I stopped, and then spoke again. "It's just a little bit overwhelming. Reality has set in, now that the pregnancy has been confirmed and … I'm terrified. I'm going to have this little baby that I have to take care of and be responsible for and protect."

Edward smiled softly. "It's perfectly normal to be terrified. Esme always told me that it's a rite of passage into motherhood. And I'm sure that Esme would be willing to help you out, even if you as her or not."

I wiped away some more tears.

"Everything will work out, I promise you, Bella," he said.

"Do you promise?" I asked, looking into his eyes through my watery ones.

He nodded. "I promise."

As we walked through the parking lot to the supermarket, Edward weaved his fingers through mine. I looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back.

The supermarket wasn't all that large, but it wasn't small either. It was probably about the same size as any other supermarket. Off to the left were the frozen and refrigerated items, and off to the right were the warm foods. Then there was the aisle for pets, where a whole selection of food for dogs, cats, birds, and even mice was, along with pet toys.

It was all relatively … normal.

After we had got everything and we were heading towards the checkout lines, I suddenly heard my name being called. We stopped and turned around. Walking towards us was a boy who looked to be about my age, wheeling a man in a wheelchair. Both had russet skin and long, raven black hair. The boy had a babyish look about him, and on his face was a grin. They looked … oddly … familiar.

"Hey, Bella!" the boy said as he came closer.

Edward and I looked at each other. From the look on his face, Edward had no idea who these two people were.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" I asked.

"Wow, you grew up! I haven't seen you since … it's gotta be ten years now," the boy said. He looked me up and down, grinning. When I didn't respond, he said, "Oh, I'm sorry, you probably don't remember me. I'm Jacob Black. This is my father, Billy Black. You and I used to play together when we were kids. You must be … how old by now?"

I shared another glance with Edward. Hesitantly, I said, "Seventeen. And even though you look very, very, oddly familiar, I really don't remember anything from …." I trailed off, looking down at the tiled floor. "Anyway, how did you recognize me?"

"You look a lot like your mother," the man in the wheelchair said.

"I do?" I asked.

Jacob nodded. "You're the spitting image of her."

Then he noticed Edward standing beside me, and he said to him, "And you are?"

Edward put on his gracious smile and held out his hand, saying, "Edward Cullen, Bella's boyfriend. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And you," Jacob said, taking Edward's offered hand. He turned back to me and said, "So, where have you been all of these years?"

I paused, trying to suppress all of the memories of my childhood. "Around," I replied, shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly.

"So, are you back in town permanently or just coming back for a visit?" Jacob asked.

"Only for a visit," I said.

"She's staying with my family and I for the holidays, before we head back to college," Edward added.

"College?" Jacob said. Edward and I nodded. "I thought you'd still be in high school."

I shrugged. "I skipped a year of high school, graduated a year early."

"Where are you going to college?" Billy asked.

"Seattle University. That's where I met Edward," I said, looking at him and smiling. Edward smiled back at me, entwining his hand with my hand.

"So how have you been the last ten years?" Billy asked.

I was caught off guard by the question, and I didn't really know what to say. I guess Edward had sensed that I was beginning to get a little uncomfortable, because he glanced at me, then his watch, and then said, "Wow, we've got to get this stuff back to Esme." I nodded in agreement. "It was very nice to meet you."

I nodded in agreement again. "Yes, it was very nice meeting you again. Bye."

I gave them a short wave, and then Edward and I walked past them and down the aisle. As we turned the corner and became out of sight of the Black's, I whispered, "Thanks for the save."

Edward grinned. "You're welcome. I could sense you were getting a little uncomfortable back there."

I laughed once softly and nodded. "Yeah. More than a little uncomfortable."

**Author's Note:** I hope everyone enjoyed that. I literally changed the scene like three times. I guess you could call this chapter a rather short filler, and once again I apologize for the shortness. The next chapter will make up for it, I promise!

Next Chapter: Christmas at the Cullen's!

Until next post, eat baked oatmeal and watch The X-Files!

As always, review or I won't post the next chapter, and you won't find out what happens next! So, keep the reviews coming!

See you next chapter! Hershey Kiss Lover.

_**NEXT CHAPTER:**_

Edward's fingers became slower as the melody came to a stop. When he finished, he turned to me, a smile on his face. "What'd you think?"

"That was very beautiful," I said.

"Thank you. I've called it Bella's Lullaby, since you were the one who inspired it," he said.


	19. A Cullen Holiday

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** So, here is chapter eighteen. I am SO sorry for the delay. Fanfiction was being stupid and not letting me upload the chapter. This chapter is longer than the previous chapter, so I hope it makes up for the shortness of the last chapter.

Anyway, enjoy and review on your way out! (P.S. – Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!)

Chapter Eighteen – A Cullen Holiday

_**Bella Cullen**_

As each day I spent at the Cullen's mansion passed, the more I wanted to stay there forever and not go back to Seattle University. I felt safe at the Cullen's mansion, where it was full of love and warmth – exactly the type of family that I'd been looking for, for the past ten years.

But at the same time, I couldn't wait to get back to the college.

I had never had so much fun at Christmas before than I had at the Cullen's.

The clock read eight-fifteen when I was woken up by a bouncing Alice on Christmas morning. I groggily turned over, pulling the blankets over my head. She pulled them back and said, "Come on, Bella! Get up! It's Christmas morning! Esme's making a huge breakfast!"

Christmas morning started off by a huge breakfast cooked by Esme – eggs, sausage, toast, and hash brown patties – followed by the opening of the presents.

They had an intriguing tradition – a person would give each person of the family one present. That way, all would get an equal amount of presents. I had bought the allotted one present for each of the Cullen family members, including Jasper and Rosalie.

I had bought Esme and Carlisle a joint gift, as a thank you for inviting me to their home for the Christmas holiday. I hadn't really known what to get them, so I gave them each a different smelling candle – Esme, a lavender smelling one, and Carlisle, a vanilla smelling one. To my surprise, they, especially Esme, loved candles.

Emmett, Jasper, and Edward were playing 'Santa' and handing out the gifts. I wasn't expecting anything from anybody, so I was surprised when Jasper said, "Here you go, Bella," and handed me three wrapped gifts, one from the three boys, one from Esme and Carlisle, and one that said 'from Alice and Rosalie' on the label.

After all of the gifts were distributed, I learned another part of the Cullen's family tradition – in opening gifts, the oldest person there would go first, and then it would go all the way down to the person who was the youngest. So, it would go like this – Carlisle first, Esme second, Jasper third, Emmett fourth, Rosalie fifth, Edward sixth, Alice seventh, and then me last.

I watched from my spot on the couch next to Edward as everybody took their turn opening their presents. As I watched, I thought, _Where has this been all of my life? Why hadn't I found them sooner?_

When Edward's turn came, he opened my present to him first, and looked delighted when he saw what it was – a book filled with blank sheets of music where he could write in his own music. His grin grew larger and then he planted a large kiss on my lips, making my face turn a deep red as Emmett and Jasper whooped and clapped.

"Thank you so much!" Edward said. "I've been eyeing this for weeks."

I blushed. "You're welcome."

When my turn came, I opened my presents. From the boys, I got a spiraled sketch book with, like, a thousand pages in it; Esme and Carlisle had gotten me a knitted, button down sweater; and Alice and Rosalie had gotten me an art kit, complete with an array of colored pencils and sketching pencils that were great for outlining and shading. It was all in a brown, aged leather pack. I was so touched by everything that I had gotten up from my spot on the couch and hugged everybody in the room.

~o~

_**Edward Cullen**_

"I think this was the best Christmas I'm had in years," Bella said quietly, snuggling into my side with my arm wrapped around her.

It was about nine-thirty, and everybody else was upstairs, leaving Bella and I alone downstairs. We were on the couch, watching a movie with the volume on low. Our feet were propped up on the coffee table, and Bella's arm was across my stomach. It was very comfortable and warm, and our mugs of hot cocoa completed it.

"And," she added, "the way Emmett and Jasper reacted when they found out I was pregnant was quite interesting."

I laughed.

What had happened was that Alice and Rosalie had given Bella another present for Christmas. They had been in Bella's room then, and Emmett, Jasper, and I had been on our way up to tell the girls that it was time for the annual Christmas family game time – where we played LIFE.

We had walked into Bella's room just as Bella was thanking Alice and Rosalie for the baby name book and the pair of light pink, knitted baby booties. Emmett and Jasper just stood there in shock while Rosalie, Alice, and I laughed at the looks on their faces and Bella turned beet red.

They did get over their shock after a while, and when they did, they asked Alice and Rosalie why they got _pink_ baby booties instead of _blue_. Alice and Rosalie questioned them as to what they meant, and they said that the baby was totally going to be a boy. And then they proceeded to ask Bella if, when the baby was born, they could teach it football.

"At least they were okay with it and understood," she added after a moment.

"Yes. That is always a good thing when it comes to Emmett and Jasper," I said, nodding. I didn't add the fact that later they said to me that if they ever got the pleasure of meeting the father of the baby, they were going to teach him a lesson before turning him over to the law enforcers. I whole-heartedly agreed with them.

We continued to watch the movie, just enjoying each other's company.

Just as the movie credits began rolling, at about 5 after ten, Bella stifled a big yawn. I grinned and laughed.

"We should probably get you to bed," I said, grinning wider when she stifled another big yawn.

As we walked up the stairs, I said, "Come to my room for a moment. I have a surprise for you."

Bella looked at me, a puzzled expression on her face as I led her down the hallway and into my room. I made her sit down on the edge of my bed, close her eyes and hold out her hands. "Edward, come on, you know I hate surprises," she said.

I only grinned and said, "I know. Hold on."

I went to my closet and got down from the top shelf the gift that I had wrapped in blue and red shiny wrapping paper. Bella was always reading her tattered old copy of _Wuthering Heights_, so I had decided that I should get her a new copy, along with a copy of another one of her favorite books, _Pride and Prejudice_.

Placing the gift in her hands, I said, "Alright. Now you can open your eyes."

Bella opened her eyes and raised her eyebrows at me with a smile. "You already got me a gift."

I smiled. "That gift was from me _and_ Emmett and Jasper. This one is just from me. Go on, open it. You'll like it, I promise."

Looking at me suspiciously, Bella gently tore back the wrapping paper to expose the two books. The binding and covers on both of them were a brilliant green color, and gold lettering spelled out the name of the book and author or both the binding and the front cover. The pages were lined with gold. Both of them looked like they type of book you would find in a king's library – untouched and breathtakingly beautiful.

"Do you like 'em?" I asked, hopeful.

She looked up at me, a smile lighting up her face. "Edward, I love them. Thank you so much." She leaned forward and placed a kiss on my lips. I didn't object and kissed her back.

"Where did you find these?" she asked.

"At a bookstore. It was the detour that Emmett, Jasper, and I took on the way here," I said. "I know how you always read that tattered old copy of _Wuthering Heights_, and I figured that you could use a new copy. I saw _Pride and Prejudice_ as well, and you told me on your birthday that that book was also one of your favorites."

"Thank you. I've been looking for another copy for a bit," Bella said.

"You're welcome," I said, and leaned in to kiss her again.

~o~

_**Bella Swan**_

Christmas vacation was quickly drawing to a close, and I was sad to see it ending. All too soon, it was New Year's Eve, and we would be traveling back to Seattle in two days time.

On New Year's Eve, Edward and I offered to cook supper and Esme agreed. We decided to make homemade chicken noodle soup, something that I had learned to make a few years back, when I was living with the old lady. We had to go to the store to get a few of the ingredients that they didn't have.

When we got back, we locked everybody out from the kitchen and began chopping vegetables.

Edward insisted that I sit down at the Island while we were cutting up the vegetables. He almost made me _not_ cut them up and let him do it instead, but I insisted that I was actually quite good with sharp knives when it came to cutting up food, despite my clumsiness.

Once we had cut up all the vegetables, I got out a big cooking pot and set it on the stove. I put the correct amount of butter in it along with the celery and onions, and turned the burner on to medium heat.

"So how did you learn how to make this?" Edward asked. "I never knew that you knew how to cook."

I shrugged, stirring around the butter, celery and onions with a cooking spoon so it wouldn't burn. "The old lady that I used to live with, Meredith, taught me how to cook. She was this cute little old lady who had been so lonely before Social Services placed me with her. It was during the summer that I lived with her before she died, so I was always around, since I didn't have any friends to play with.

"And so, since I was always around, she taught me how to paint and cook. She taught me all of the recipes in her cookbook" – I motioned to the handmade, hard-cover cookbook on the counter next to the stove – "and then gave it to me right before she died. She told me that all of the recipes in the cookbook had been handed down in her family from mother to daughter ever since the 1800's."

Edward smiled. "Hence the title 'Family Recipes'," he said, closing the book but keeping his hand in the place with the recipe we were using, and opening it up to the first page.

I laughed and nodded.

A half hour later, we were able to add in the swirly pasta noodles.

When the homemade chicken noodle soup was done, and we were sitting down at the kitchen table with our bowls in front of us, there were comments on how lovely it looked and smelled. My face turned a deep red when Emmett said, "This is even better than Esme's!" to which Esme and everybody else agreed.

A few hours later, the Cullen's, Jasper and Rosalie, and I were standing in the living room, watching the clock intently. The television was turned onto the channel with the dropping of the ball. It was two minutes until the ball dropped.

Bubbling with excitement, Alice hopped around the living room, giving everybody New Year's favors. She gave Edward and I both ridiculous looking hats that had 2005! on them. Everybody else had something different that had 2005 on it.

"Fifty seconds, everybody!" Alice chirped.

"Can you imagine how cold the people must be?" I asked Edward. "I mean, they've been standing there for who knows how many hours. And it's New York City. I heard that the temperature gets to below zero over there."

Edward laughed. "They're probably very cold. They'll be able to go inside in about 40 seconds, though."

"Twenty seconds!"

Alice was bouncing off the walls.

"Alright, everybody, get ready to count down!" Rosalie said.

"_Ten … nine … eight … seven … six … five … four … three … two … one_! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" everyone shouted, including me. Emmett blew a bull horn, and Jasper and Alice and Rosalie threw multi-colored confetti in the air.

And then, seeing the others do it and deciding to follow suit, Edward grinned and pulled me in for a New Year's kiss.

I happily didn't object.

~o~

The night before we left to head back to college, I was in my room, sitting on the loveseat window and reading the new copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ that Edward had given me. I was munching on saltine crackers, trying to get rid of the nausea that was forever creeping up on me. I had already thrown up three times that day and I was trying to avoid a fourth trip to the bathroom.

Edward appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, an excited look on his face. He came over to me and held out his hand. "Come downstairs with me for a moment. I want to show you something."

Not really wanting to leave the comfortable loveseat but curious to see what Edward wanted to show me, I placed my bookmark in the book and followed Edward down the stairs.

He led me into the living room and over to his large, white piano. He sat down on the bench and patted the space next to him, indicating that he wanted me to sit down next to him. So, I did. Remember the composing book that you gave me for Christmas?" he asked. I nodded as he opened the composing book and set it on the place where you put music.

A soft melody filled the air, and I watched as his hand flew across the keys with skill. The melody was beautiful, gentle.

I listened, a soft smile forming on my lips.

Edward's fingers became slower as the melody came to a stop. When he finished, he turned to me, a smile on his face. "What'd you think?"

"That was very beautiful," I said.

"Thank you. I've called it Bella's Lullaby, since you were the one who inspired it," he said.

I looked at him, the soft smile on my lips becoming slightly bigger. "You wrote this?" He nodded. "For me?" He nodded again, smiling. I felt tears come to my eyes. Nobody had ever written anything for me. What he had played on the piano just now was so … _beautiful_. I leaned forward and kissed him.

When I pulled back, I whispered, "Thank you."

Edward grinned and said, "You're welcome," and then pulled me back in for another kiss.

**Author's Note:** Well, there it is! I personally think this is the best holiday chapter type thing I have ever written! Please tell me what you think in your review!

As always, PLEASE review, or I will not be posting anymore chapters! So, review review review review! Thanks!

See you next time! Hershey Kiss Lover.


	20. Dr Morris

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

**Author's Note:** Well, here's the next chapter! I want to thank everybody who has been reviewing! The computer that I usually write this story (it's my sister's old laptop) is currently in pieces, since my dad was going to try to revive it. But, I have up through chapter 20 or 21 written of this story, but I'm waiting until I can hopefully get a new laptop next week so I can start writing again.

So, bear with me! I know there's a lot of you who love this story and would hate to see me delete it or not update for many months!

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Nineteen – Dr. Morris

_**Bella Swan**_

You know how people say that when you're pregnant everything makes you nauseous?

Well, they were right.

But, they hadn't been in college Biology, watching a video on how to dissect and baby pig.

And that's where I was, sitting in Biology next to Edward, one and a half weeks after school started up again, watching a video on that specific subject. And the person narrating was being _extremely_ descriptive in what the man was doing.

I was alright with it when I was in high school. But since I'm pregnant, just the sight of it made me want to throw up.

I glanced over at Edward – I could tell even in the dark that he had an amused look on his face.

Finally – at God's good grace – I heard the bell signaling the end of class ring, just when I could feel my breakfast threatening to make a reappearance. I stuffed my books into my bag as quickly as I could and ran past the other students filing out of the classroom and down the hall to the nearest bathroom, leaving Edward behind.

After a good ten or so minutes, I was able to regain strength in my legs. I flushed the toilet, grabbed my bag from the floor next to me and stood with shaky knees. Edward, being the gentleman that he was, was of course waiting outside the bathroom for me.

He was looking worried, and he put his arm across my shoulders. "Are you alright?"

I nodded my head. "Mmhmm. I'm alright. Mixture of morning sickness and pig intestines. Ugh." I swallowed back another wave of nausea.

Edward laughed and kissed the top of my head as we started the hallway. "It was slightly disgusting."

"Slightly?" I asked, looking up at him. "More like _really_." I shuddered.

"Alright," Edward laughed, sensing that the topic was really grossing me out. "Come on, we're going to be late in meeting the gang."

We arrived a few moments later at the cafeteria, where everybody had already gathered. After Edward got some food (my stomach was still feeling nauseous so I declined on the food), we headed over to our usual table, where Emmett was apparently describing something in detail and Jasper, Rosalie, and Alice were laughing. Alice had a paper cup filled with what I assumed was hot chocolate, so it probably explained why she was laughing like she was – very hyper like.

"You look awful," Alice commented as I plopped down into the seat next to her.

"Oh, thank you, I feel great," I said, sarcastically, putting my elbow on the table in front of me and resting the side of my face on the palm of my hand. I was _so_ tired.

"What's the matter, Bella? Run into bad food?" Emmett laughed. He was the only one who found my morning sickness funny.

"More like biology class," I said, and left it at that; talking about it was making me nauseous.

~o~

_Okay, deep breaths, Bella. Don't hyperventilate. That would _not_ be a good thing to do_, I told myself later that afternoon.

It was my first appointment with Dr. Natalia Morris, the therapist that Angela had recommended to me, and Edward and I were walking down a hallway in an unfamiliar building about ten minutes away from campus. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I had agreed to this because I wanted to get better – mentally. Physically, I just felt like I was going to throw up, but that was only because of the baby.

Sooner than I wanted, we arrived at a door that said in black letters: Dr. Natalia Morris, Therapist. Edward squeezed my hand in a comforting gesture and opened the door, leading me through.

The waiting area was just like you'd expect in any other type of office – plain, tan walls, chairs lining the walls, and a small area with children's toys. There was a coffee table with some out-of-date magazines. Over on one wall there was a window that separated the waiting area from a front desk, where a woman was sitting, looking through papers.

Edward and I went over, and she looked up. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"I have an appointment with Dr. Morris," I said, and I could hear my voice squeak a little. I felt Edward rub my hand with his thumb, and I felt a little comforted at that gesture.

The woman clipped something to a clipboard with a snap and handed it to me with a pen. "Fill this out, and bring it back to me."

I took the clipboard, smiled nervously at her, and then walked over to one of the seats with Edward. Edward took up one of the magazines and started flipping through it while I filled out the papers on the clipboard, answering question after question after question.

I almost laughed when I came to the question "Do you do drugs?". Honestly, who would answer that truthfully?

Once I was done, I brought the clipboard back to the lady who took it and told me that Dr. Morris would be right with me. I nodded and headed back over to Edward. I sat down next to him and whispered, "How about we make a run for it?"

Edward looked at me. "And why would you want to do that?"

"Have I ever mentioned that I hate doctors?" I asked.

He raised his eyebrows. "So you'll hate me when I become a doctor?" he asked, though I could see that he was teasing.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course not. You know what I mean. I love you. I hate doctors. They ask a _lot_ of embarrassing questions."

Edward grabbed my hand and rubbed it with his thumb comfortingly. "Relax, love. She's only a therapist. She's going to help you."

Before I had time to answer him, a voice called my name. "Isabella?" I cringed. Why, oh _why_, couldn't they use my nickname? Edward saw my slight cringe and chuckled lightly.

"Relax, love. I'll be right out here if you need me," he said. He swooped in and kissed my cheek.

A lady was standing at an office door. She looked nice enough – for a therapist. Her hair was honey blonde, her eyes blue, and she was wearing a tan plaid skirt with a white blouse. On her feet were some black high heeled shoes that would surely land me in the hospital if I ever wore them.

She smiled at me as I approached and she motioned her arm into her office.

Her office was friendly – unlike the type of office I imagined, like the ones in the movies: dull, dim-lighted, _very_ boring furniture. There was a big oak desk with a swivel chair, a big comfy chair that faced a large leather couch. On one wall there were a couple of bookshelves, filled with books, and then there was a bin filled with children's toys.

"Well," Dr. Morris said as she closed the door behind her. She motioned for me to sit down on the couch and I obliged, feeling very nervous; I did _not_ want to be in here…

Dr. Morris sat down in the chair across from the couch, crossing her legs and placing a pad of yellow lined paper on her lap. "I guess I should introduce myself before we begin. I'm Dr. Natalia Morris, but you can call me Dr. Morris, and, as you know, I'm a therapist. And you're Isabella?"

I nodded. "I like to be called Bella, though," I said quietly.

"Bella. That's a pretty name," Dr. Morris said, making a note on the pad with a pen. "So, Bella. Tell me about yourself?"

It was my first date with Edward all over again.

I lifted my shoulders and dropped them as I asked, "What do you want to know?"

"How about we start with the basic questions. How old are you?" she asked.

"Seventeen," I said.

"Where do you go to school?"

"Seattle University."

Dr. Morris raised her eyebrows. "Are taking a college course along with high school classes?"

"I skipped a year of high school, graduated early," I said.

"How are you liking college?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I like it."

"Are you majoring in anything in particular?" Dr. Morris asked, continuing to take notes.

"Art and photography. I'm thinking about doing photography, though, as a profession," I said, twirling a piece of string that was sticking out of the blanket that was draped across the couch.

Dr. Morris smiled. "Photography is fun. I have a daughter about your age who loves anything to do with a digital camera." She wrote down a few more words, and then looked back up at me. "So. Tell me some more. Have you made any friends at Seattle U?"

I nodded. "A few. My roommate Alice and her family. She has two brothers that go there, and her boyfriend and his sister go there as well. We're all pretty close."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" she asked.

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Edward. He's Alice's brother."

Dr. Morris returned the smile. "Is that him out in the waiting room?" I nodded. "Are you very close with him?"

I nodded again. "But not in the physical type way. I love him a lot."

Dr. Morris smiled again. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

I shook my head. "It's just me. I'm basically on my own in the world," I said quietly.

Dr. Morris furrowed her eyebrows in concern. "What do you mean by on your own?"

"My parents died when I was seven. I've been on my own ever since."

"I'm very sorry. Were you fond of your parents?" she asked gently.

Tears burned in the back of my eyes as I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I can't remember. It's like I lost all memory of my life before the car accident." The tears burned hotter in my eyes, and I could only guess that it was the elevated hormones from the pregnancy making me cry.

Dr. Morris passed a tissue box to me. "What happened after your parents died? Did any relatives take you in?"

I shook my head. "No. I was put through foster care and stayed in several homes up until I was fifteen. Then the Social Services kept me at the agency – in Port Angeles – where the kids who can't find homes stay."

"Did you stay there until you graduated from high school?" Dr. Morris asked.

I nodded.

"How did staying in the foster homes make you feel?"

Here comes the thought provoking and overly personal questions. _Oh, boy_.

"Isolated, I guess. Insecure. I didn't stay very long in any of 'em," I said, once again beginning to twirl the piece of string with my finger, this time staring at it.

"Why was that? Were the families unkind to you?"

I shrugged again. "They weren't … un-kind per se, but they weren't really … family like. They neglected me, I guess you could say. They let me eat food and drink water, but, I just didn't feel … loved in any of them."

"So you left?"

I nodded. "Went back to Port Angeles."

Dr. Morris nodded as she wrote things down on the pad of paper.

"And you're liking college right now?" she asked after a moment.

I nodded. "Yeah. Best thing that's happened to me in a while."

"Okay. So, Bella. Now that I've gotten to know you a litter better, why don't you tell me what made you decide to come and see me," she said. "This room is absolutely sound-proof, so everything you say will be strictly confidential and nobody will hear. It says on the questionnaire here that you filled out that you've been physically abused before."

Dr. Morris's voice was soft and gentle, and that, along with the sentence she had said, made me even more nervous. Tears were beginning to slide down my cheeks and I brushed them away with the back of my hand.

"It was when I was fifteen, while I was staying at the last foster home," I said, my voice quiet and slightly trembling.

"Was the family unkind to you?"

"The parents were fine. They had … a boy who was a couple years older than me. He would taunt me at school, try to get me to be his girlfriend. I refused."

"Can you tell me what happened when you refused to be his girlfriend?"

I was silent for a moment. "He didn't do anything at first. But finally he got fed up with me refusing him and he began hitting me. Nothing major; he gave me several bruises, broke my wrist once. One night, his parents were out of town and he came home that first night they were gone, and he was drunk."

More tears were coming down now. I had never told anyone besides the social workers, police, and judge about what James had done to me, and it was opening old wounds on my heart.

"He pushed me down the stairs. I broke my ankle and got a concussion on my head. I walked through rain back to Port Angeles."

"Did he go to jail?"

I nodded, feeling yet more tears travel slowly down my face. My nose was beginning to run, and I blew my nose with a tissue. "Social Services didn't send me to any more foster homes. He went to jail, but now he's out."

"After only two years?" Dr. Morris had flipped to a new page.

"He escaped," I whispered. In my sub conscious, I felt my arm move around my stomach protectively, almost as if I was protecting the small baby within me.

Dr. Morris was silent. She was waiting for me to continue.

"I'm scared that he's going to come after me. Hurt me again," I said.

I heard Dr. Morris let out a breath. And then, in a soft, gentle voice, she asked, "Bella, has he ever done anything to you more than physical abuse?"

I wasn't looking at Dr. Morris anymore, instead looking at the carpeted floor beneath my feet.

And then I found myself telling Dr. Morris everything that he had done since I had arrived at college – how he had arrived on campus that first day, and then how he had shown up on Thanksgiving night, at the coffee shop. Intermittently, Dr. Morris asked me questions, nodding a lot and writing things down on the pad of yellow lined paper.

"And now I'm pregnant," I whispered, my arm still around my stomach.

"Does your boyfriend know about the pregnancy?"

I nodded. "He knows. He knows everything. So does his family and Rosalie and Jasper."

"Is he supportive of the pregnancy?" Dr. Morris asked gently.

I nodded. "He is. His entire family is. You could say that Rosalie and Alice are so excited they could probably come out of their skin."

Dr. Morris smiled, and then said gently, "Do you know what you're planning on doing, now that you're pregnant? Do you plan on finishing college?"

I was silent for a moment. "I haven't given it much thought. But I do know that I'm going to keep the baby. No child should be abandoned, ya know?"

Dr. Morris smiled and nodded. "Do you know how far along you are?"

"I'm almost seven weeks. I'm going to my first doctor's visit next week," I said.

When the session finally came to an end, Dr. Morris told me that she wanted to see me again in a month's time, and to make an appointment with Charlotte at the front desk.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Bella. Be sure to take care of yourself, alright?"

As we exited the building a couple moment later, Edward wrapped an arm around my shoulder comfortingly.

"So how'd it go?" he asked.

"Alright," I said. "She was very nice."

I was silent, and then I added, "I'm getting there. Not quite there, but … almost." I looked up at Edward and he smiled at me, kissing the top of my head and giving my shoulder another squeeze.

Yeah, I was almost there.

**Author's Note:** Well, there you have it. Bella's life story. If anybody is wondering why Bella didn't tell Edward her entire story, it was just too painful for her and she still isn't quite ready for Edward – or anyone else – to know what the full story is.

Anyways, Next chapter – Bella gets her first ultrasound!

It's already written, so as soon as I get enough reviews (5 or so), I'll post it.

Happy Easter everybody! Hershey Kiss Lover.


	21. My Little Jellybean

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight.

Chapter Twenty – My Little Jellybean

_**Bella Swan**_

The next week passed by smoothly. I spent a lot of my time with Edward or Alice, studying and doing homework. We continued to meet up with the gang for lunch, and the occasional dinner or breakfast, in the cafeteria, something that I wasn't particularly fond of anymore, since almost every smell related to food made me nauseous.

I (and unfortunately Emmett and Jasper) had found what food that I was particularly adverse to. You know how pregnant women usually have a extra sensitive nose to a certain type of food? Well, they weren't kidding, and I had found mine.

Eggs.

Just the sight of scrambled eggs made me gag, and the smell made it even worse. Normally, I love scrambled eggs, but the pregnancy just made me totally adverse to it. Emmett and Jasper found this quite hilarious, and – finding my morning sickness amusing – Emmett usually took advantage of it whenever we met up for breakfast.

I eventually stopped meeting the gang for breakfast, opting for dry cereal instead (I had recently uncovered an immense craving for cheerios, so there was always a box of them in Alice's and mine dorm room).

Other than the constant puking, the pregnancy was going pretty well.

"So, Bella, are you excited for your first appointment?"

I came out of the bathroom stall, finding Alice leaning across a sink directly in front of me. She was reapplying mascara to her eyelashes. I walked across to the sink next to her and washed my hands as I said, "Yeah, I'm excited."

"Still want me to go with you?" Alice asked as I grabbed a couple of paper towels and dried my hands. She stuck her tube of mascara back in her school bag.

"Of course!" I said. "Edward has a meeting with one of his professors at the time of the appointment, so he wouldn't have been able to come with me anyway."

That afternoon, after I got out of my last class of the day, I headed over to Alice's class. I leaned up against the wall to wait for her to get done. She exited the classroom a moment later, and we headed out of the building and to her car.

As we approached the hospital, I began to feel nerves begin to build up inside of me. What if there was something wrong with the baby? What if there was something wrong with me?

The waiting room wasn't too crowded, only a couple of mothers (who were obviously older than me) with young children and bulging bellies. There was a father with one of the mothers, and he was playing with one of the children.

The receptionist gave me some papers to fill out. I did so, answering numerous questions and the like, while Alice cheerfully flipped through smut magazines, commenting on the people's clothing. Once I finished the paperwork, I brought it back up to the receptionist. The receptionist, an older lady, maybe about mid-fifties with wrinkles and a bad make-up job, stared at me condescendingly each time I approached the desk.

I could only smile politely, yet nervously.

I mean, how often was it that you saw a seventeen year old girl walk into the maternity place of the hospital who said she was pregnant?

Yeah, I thought so.

The wait wasn't long, only about ten minutes.

Alice and I followed a nurse down a hallway and into a small private room. The walls had several pictures of babies and the like. Ultrasound equipment was standing next to a bed on one wall, and a sink and cupboard were on another wall.

The nurse took my weight – 120 – and blood-pressure and then left the room, telling us that the doctor would be in shortly.

The doctor who entered a moment later was a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties. She was very pretty, with long, curly black hair, and a friendly smile on her face. She was wearing a flow-y brown skirt that went past her knees and a light blue shirt. Her white doctor's coat was over her clothes, and indicated that she was Dr. Michelle Miser, OB-GYN.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Michelle Miser. And you must be" – she looked down at the file that she was holding in her arms – "Isabella Swan?"

I nodded as she shook hands with both Alice and I. "I like Bella, though," I said, blushing.

"I'm Alice Cullen, her best friend," she said.

Dr. Miser smiled kindly. "It's very nice to meet both of you. Now, Bella. I see here on your file that you had your pregnancy confirmed a couple of weeks ago, on December 24?"

And so began the questions.

Dr. Miser asked me questions about my health, how old I was, stuff like that. It caught me off guard when she asked me if I knew anything about the baby's father's medical history. I told her I wasn't sure, and that was when she found out that the baby had been made from rape.

She got a look of compassion on her face, and continued on, asking, "Do you know if they've caught him yet?"

I shook my head. "Not yet."

The doctor was silent for a few seconds, and then said, "Bella, since you don't know a whole lot about the father's medical history and the fact that this is a result of rape, we're going to have to make sure you stay the healthiest possible for this baby. I would suggest small frequent meals, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

After the questions were finished, she told me to lie back on the uncomfortable, paper covered examination table and lift up my shirt to expose my belly. She felt around it for a moment, and then said, "Everything feels fine. Now, how would you like to see the baby?"

My heart leapt. I glanced over at Alice, whose smile had grown into a massive grin as she proceeded to bounce excitedly in her chair, and then back at Dr. Miser. I smiled and nodded. Alice moved her chair closer to the bed so she could see the screen more clearly.

Within a couple of moments, the ultrasound machine was on and hooked up. Dr. Miser squirted some gel onto my stomach, to which I gasped from the cold. Alice laughed.

"Sorry," Dr. Miser said. "I forgot to warn you that it's a bit cold."

Dr. Miser began moving the wand around my stomach and switched on the screen. A moving black and white picture showed up on the screen. She pointed with her pinky to a spot on the screen. "There is your baby."

It was only a dot on the screen, but already it had the shape of a jellybean, floating there somewhere in my stomach.

And I felt the love I already had for this child grow, as soon as I laid eyes on it.

My little jellybean.

"Aww!"Alice crooned. "It's adorable!"

"I know," I whispered, staring at the screen with my eyes filling with tears.

"Would you like to hear the heartbeat?"

I only nodded, not able to speak or tear my eyes away from the little person on the screen.

Dr. Miser flipped a switch on the machine and within a moment, a fast, loud whooshing sound filled the room, kind of like a "choo-choo" sound, but not really. Alice looked confused. "What is that?" she asked.

"That's the baby's heart beat. It's a little different than adult's because it has to work harder. But it sounds perfectly healthy," Dr. Miser said.

Alice grinned. "Wow! Do you hear that Bella?"

I nodded.

To me, it was one of the most beautiful sounds in the world.

From that moment on, despite who the father was, I knew that I loved this child dearly and I knew that I wanted to protect it with everything I had. It was so precious to me already, and it was only a small blob on a screen.

My little jellybean.

"Alright. Everything looks great, Bella," Dr. Miser said. "Would you like a couple of pictures to take with you?"

I nodded eagerly, and Alice squealed with excitement.

"You'll be able to show the gang, Bella!"

Dr. Miser laughed and said, as she pressed some buttons on the ultrasound machine, "Alright. If you wait here a moment, I'm just going to go and print some off and then I'll be right back." She handed me a towel so I could off my stomach.

When the doctor left the room a few seconds later, Alice squealed and said, "Oh, Bella that was amazing!"

"I know!" I said, smiling.

Dr. Miser returned a couple of moments later. In her hand were a few ultrasound photos, and she handed them to me as she sat down again in the cushioned swivel stool. "Well, Bella. Again, everything looks perfectly normal, but I would like you to try to gain a few pounds. You're just a little bit underweight, and that can sometimes be bad for the baby. Remember, we need to keep you as healthy as possible.

"Now, I would like to see you back in a couple of weeks for your two month appointment, and then we'll go to every month from there. At the next appointment we're going to be doing a glucose test. It's a simple test where we have you drink this sugary drink and then we check your blood every so often over a period of four hours. It's perfectly normal, and we do this with all pregnant women to test for diabetes."

She gave me some brochures and pamphlets and a list of books to read about pregnancy and motherhood and such, and five minutes later, Alice and I headed back out to the receptionist so I could schedule an appointment for the two month check up.

~o~

Later that day, Alice and I met up with the gang for supper at the little pizzeria that we all loved. Surprisingly, the smell of pizza was the only smell I could stomach these days, which was a plus side.

The pizza place was crowded and when Alice and I walked in the door, we had to search around the place for Edward and the gang. Finally, after a moment, we caught sight of Jasper standing up and waving us over to a table near the back.

"Hey, guys!" Alice said, taking the empty seat next to Jasper and kissing him on the cheek. I plopped down on the seat next to Edward, who kissed my cheek in greeting.

"So, how'd the doctor's appointment go?" Rosalie asked.

"Good. The doctor's really nice," I said.

"Show them the photos!" Alice said.

"Why? It's not even recognizable," I said, but got the photos out of my purse anyway. I placed the photos on the table and watched as they began to look at them.

"Oh, my god, Bella, he is adorable!" Rosalie exclaimed. "He looks like a little jellybean!"

I laughed. "I know. Exactly my thoughts."

"What exactly are these?" Emmett asked, confusedly.

Edward laughed, rolling his eyes. "Come on, Emmett, how can it not be obvious? They're ultrasound photos of Bella's baby."

Dinner was a fun affair. I once again ate three pieces of pizza (to which Emmett teased that I was beginning to become like him), and after we had all eaten, we left to head back to the dorms. I rode with Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie, while Alice rode with Jasper.

When I got back to the dorm, I placed the ultrasound photo on the corner of my desk, and taped down two of the corners. I know … it's a little cheesy, but hey.

It was about three o'clock in the morning when I was awoken by the sound of my phone ringing. Groggily, and wondering who the heck was calling that early in the morning, I flipped my phone open without looking at the caller I.D. "Hello?"

"May I speak to Isabella Swan, please?" a male voice spoke.

"This is her," I said, suppressing a yawn.

"Hi, this is Chief Frederick Thompson from the Seattle Police Department. I'm sorry I'm calling you so early in the morning, but I believe we've caught a guy who matches your description of the man who attacked you. I know it's early, but we need you to come in to the station to I.D. the correct guy."

My mind was fully alert now. They had caught James?

**Author's Note:** -cowers away from people stalking towards me with pitchforks and flame throwers- I am SO sorry about the cliffhanger, but you know it had to come eventually right? But besides that, who that the whole ultrasound scene was cute?

Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed! I was so happy when I opened my e-mail and saw three reviews, and then two more later that day! Keep 'em coming, guys! They'll make me post more!

A little shout out to **trixily** for noticing a typo in the chapter title on the drop down! I will be fixing that when I post this chapter!

Next chapter: You'll have to wait and see! I'm in the middle of writing it right now. I finally have a computer where I can write it on, but I don't know when the next chapter will be posted, since I need to focus on school right now. But, bare with me!

See you next time! Hershey Kiss Lover.


	22. Caught

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight.

Chapter Twenty-One – Caught

_**Edward Cullen**_

I was awoken by the sound of my phone ringing. Groggily, I glanced at the alarm clock and saw the big, red glowing numbers were reading 3:22 a.m. Who on earth was calling me at this hour?

My phone stopped ringing, only to start up again five seconds later. I grabbed it off my desk and looked at the caller I.D. 'Bella' it read. My heart leapt. Was she alright? I quickly flipped my phone open and said, "Hello?"

"Edward?"

Bella's voice sounded shaky and nervous.

"What's up?" I asked. "Are you alright?" I could feel the worry being to creep up into me.

"Um, I don't know. I'm outside your door. I didn't want to knock because I could wake up Emmett and Jasper," she said.

Fully awake now, I got up and went to the door. I opened it to find Bella standing there in her pajamas and her cloth jacket. Her face looked nervous and scared, and I could see tears coming dangerously close to spilling over. I flipped my phone shut and immediately pulled her into my arms.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I got a call a half hour ago from the chief of police down at the Seattle Police Department. He said they caught a guy fitting the description of James. They want me to come down right away to positively I.D. him," she replied.

I pulled her into another hug, holding her close to my chest.

After a minute, she pulled away and looked up into my face. "Will you come with me?"

Ten minutes later, we were leaving the parking lot, heading towards the Seattle Police department. Bella told me that she had let Alice know where she was going before she left her dorm room, so Alice would worry if she woke up and saw her roommate missing.

The ride to the station was relatively quiet, except for the sound of Clair de Lune. I had put the song on in attempt to relax Bella and alleviate some of the tension she was feeling.

"Thank you for coming with me," she said quietly, turning her head to look over at me.

I looked over at her and gave her comforting smile. Keeping one hand on the wheel, I reached out with the other and entwined my fingers with hers. "You're very welcome Bella. I can imagine that the phone call you received wasn't very pleasant."

She shook her head.

We arrived at the station at about quarter to four. I parked near the entrance to the building, cut the engine, and got out to open Bella's door for her. As we headed towards the door, I grabbed Bella's hand as a comforting gesture. She looked up at me, a small, nervous smile on her lips.

There was an officer sitting at the front desk, eating a donut and reading a small paperback novel, and from what I could see, it was a romance novel. He looked to be in his early to mid thirties, and even though he was sitting down, you could see that he was just a smidgen chubby. He looked up when we entered, and sat down his book.

"Can I help you two?" he asked.

"Um, I got a call a little less than an hour ago from Chief Thompson. He wanted me to come in," Bella said.

"Alright. I'll go and let him know that you're here."

The office got up from him chair at the desk and walked past us into an office off to the side. I spotted some chairs and led Bella over to them so we could sit while we waited. Once we were seated, I encased my large hand in her smaller one, and asked, "Are you alright?"

Bella swallowed, took a deep breath and shrugged. "I don't know, Edward. All I feel right now is numbness. I just want to be able to live without the fear of knowing that he's out there, you know? That he won't come after me. He's done so much to me in the past. And I don't want him to hurt you, or Alice, or Jasper, or anyone else."

"Bella, I swear, I will protect you, no matter what happens. I will never let any harm come to you, ever again, from this guy."

She gave me a wavering smile, but wasn't able to answer, as the office door opened and an older, balding man with extra pounds around his waist, and who looked to be in his late fifties, stepped out. He spotted us and walked over. As he approached, he asked, "Isabella Swan?"

Bella nodded.

"I apologize for calling you so early in the morning." Bella shrugged. "Now, I believe we have caught the guy, according to the description that you gave us in the hospital several weeks ago. We called you in so you could look at a line up, to see if it is him. All you do is look at a line of a few guys through a window – real simple," Chief Thompson said.

"Alright," Bella said in a soft voice.

"If you'll come with me, we'll see if we can't get this done," the chief said.

"Can Edward come as well?" Bella asked. I could tell that she was close to a nervous breakdown, and all I wanted to do was wrap her in my arms and comfort her. Instead, I gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Swan," Chief Thompson said, shaking his head. "He'll have to stay out here."

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. "I'll be right out here waiting, alright?"

Bella nodded, and within a few seconds was following Chief Thompson away through a door.

_**Bella Swan**_

One would think that, with my past with James, I would be happy to see him in custody once again – that was, if it _was_ him. But the thought of having to _see_ him, see him again sent chills through my body. I still had memories of his eyes from that night, staring into mine with such ice cold menace.

I could sense myself on the verge of a nervous breakdown as I followed Chief Thompson through a door, down a long hallway, and through another door, where I was brought into a room that had a large window on one wall. I wouldn't say it was cozy, but it wasn't welcoming either – I mean, it was a police station for god's sake.

"Alright. If I could have to stand facing the window, we'll bring in the line up. Like I said, all you're going to do is identify him. Will you be able to do that?" I forced myself to nod my head. "Good. Now, they won't be able to see you, so you won't have to worry about that."

One by one, prisoners filed into the room next to us. They ranged from short to tall, fat to skinny. I looked at them all as they were told to stand sideways, then back to me, and then front to me.

I didn't recognize a single one of them – except the last guy on the end. His cold eyes, though he wasn't able to see me, seemed to bore into mine, and it was all I could do not to turn and run out of the room, down the hallway, and back to Edward.

It was him.

James.

Nothing could escape me when it came to James's looks – his eyes, the cold, menacing smile with the crooked teeth, and the tattoo that was on his hand – a skull and crossbones.

I wasn't able to look at him for longer than a few seconds before memories of Thanksgiving night came flooding back into my mind. I looked away, telling Chief Thompson and the other officer that was in there, "That last guy on the end, number 7."

"Are you positive?" the Chief asked.

I nodded. "I would know him anywhere."

~o~

We arrived back at the college at a quarter to five in the morning. I had been silent the whole ride back, but only because I was afraid that if I opened my mouth to speak, I would break down in tears.

Edward walked me to my dorm, arms wrapped around my shoulders. When we arrived at my door, I put my key in to unlock it, but before I could, I felt Edward's hands on my shoulders, gently turning me around so I could face him. His facial expression was so full of compassion and worry that I almost broke down then and there.

"You going to be alright?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. It hasn't really sunk in yet that he's been caught. Right now, all I'm feeling is an overwhelming tiredness."

Edward smiled softly. He placed a kiss on my forehead and gave me a tight, yet comforting hug. When he pulled back, he said, "I want you to stay in today, alright? Get some rest. Stress is not good for the baby – emotional or physical. I can get assignments from the professors for you, okay?"

I gave a small, quick smile. I really couldn't argue with that. "Okay. And, Edward?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Thank you for coming with me," I said.

He gave me a soft smile. "Anytime, Bella."

After a kiss goodbye and another hug, Edward left to go back to his own dorm room. I unlocked my door and went in. The light on Alice's night stand was on, and a style magazine was lying open on her stomach. She was flat on her back, asleep. She must have tried to stay up and wait for me to get back, but had fallen asleep.

Since I hadn't changed out of my pajamas, I just took off my cloth jacket and draped it across my chair. Then, I crawled under the covers of my bed, rolled over to face the wall, and fell asleep.

For the first time in a long, long while, I slept soundly, feeling safe from the clutches of James, knowing that he was now captured and was going to be behind bars for a long time coming.

**Author's Note:** Well, there you have it! Sorry it was so short, but there wasn't much anything I could add to this chapter. James has been caught, and he'll be staying in prison for a while! Bella won't have to worry about the safety of her unborn child anymore!

I want to thank everybody who reviewed! It really means a lot to me when people review and keep telling me to update.

Next chapter: Bella gets a little bit of a surprise visit. But, not to worry!

So, you know the drill guys! Review, review, review and I'll post the next chapter! It should be up hopefully next week.

See you guys next chapter! Hershey Kiss Lover.


	23. The Visitor

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight.

Chapter Twenty-Two – The Visitor

_**Bella Swan**_

Things passed by smoothly after that phone call.

Since James was already well known, and had broken out from jail, he would be getting sent back – without a trial, something I was really happy about.

I continued my sessions with Dr. Morris. With each session, I began to get a little better. She told me that she thought it helped with me knowing that James was now behind bars again and wouldn't be bothering me ever again. I was crying less and less each session, which made me glad, because I hated the worried looks and questions that Edward asked me each time as were leaving the office.

School continued on. I kept up in my classes. I had dropped two classes, which had been requested by Dr. Miser. She wanted me to keep my stress level down as much as possible, and she believed that with the workload that I had would just contribute to it. I had to kind of agree with her.

By the end of my third month of pregnancy, I was slowly getting over my morning sickness, much to my tremendous relief. I mean, honestly, it's really unattractive and really disgusting. Besides the cheerios, I hadn't really had much of cravings yet, but I was assured that they would come. Mood swings, on the other hand, had been there for a long time.

One minute I would be laughing at something Emmett would say, and then the next minute I would be in tears for unknown reasons. Like, one morning for instance, I was happened to be reading a magazine while I ate breakfast. I had read something in an article, and it just kicked my hormones into overdrive.

It's kind of pathetic when you cry over a stupid magazine article. The boys found this absolutely hilarious.

All in all, things were going good.

And I was happy.

~o~

I was just about to enter my fourth month of pregnancy when I finally began to notice changes in my body structure. For instance, my chest was just a little fuller, which Alice said was a plus side, because I had had barely any chest at all before I got pregnant.

I was in the bathroom one Saturday morning, getting dressed. My jeans were the last thing to put on, and that was when I noticed something odd.

My eyes widened in horror as I realized what that odd something was – I couldn't button my jeans!

I hurried out of the bathroom and went straight to the full length mirror that Alice and I had gotten a couple of months ago. Turning to the side, I pulled my shirt up to just under my chest and looked at my stomach in the mirror.

There, just the slightest bit visible, was a bulge.

"Oh, my god!" I cried, feeling the tears already come to my eyes.

Alice looked up from where she was putting her books in her bag, and asked in a panicked voice as she came over to me, "What? What is it?"

"I'm getting fat!" I said. I pointed to the bulge that was attached to my stomach. "See? I'm getting fat!"

Alice bit back a laugh. "Bella, relax. It's just a baby bump! An adorable baby bump, at that. What's so horrible about a baby bump?"

"I can't button my jeans! That's what!" I said, letting my shirt fall back over my stomach as I walked to my bed and plopped down on it.

"Bella, you're pregnant! That's what's _supposed_ to happen. When the baby gets larger, so does your stomach. And, trust me, Bella, you are in no way fat," she said, putting her hand on my shoulder in comfort.

"But I can't fit into my jeans!" I said, tears starting to water my eyes.

Alice seemed to think for a moment, and then her face lit up, and she said, "How about a shopping trip this morning after breakfast? You're going to need maternity clothes, Bella. The fact that you can't fit into your pants this morning proves that."

I sat there for a moment, thinking about it. As much as I hated shopping, I couldn't help but agree with Alice. My jeans were beginning to get a little tight, and I couldn't ignore it. I was going to get fat soon.

Sighing with reluctance, I said, "Fine."

Alice squealed with excitement and clapped her hands. She gave me a quick hug, and said, "This is going to be _so_ much fun!"

Half hour and four tries later, I had finally found a pair of jeans that were mostly comfortable and I could zip and button with ease, and Alice and I were heading down to the cafeteria to meet up with the gang for breakfast. Ever since my morning sickness stopped and I was no longer sensitive to the smell of foods, I had begun meeting up with them again.

Jasper and Edward were at our usual table when arrived. Emmett and Rosalie were missing, and when we asked Edward and Jasper where the two lovebirds were, they told us that Emmett had taken Rosalie out for breakfast.

"So what are you doing today?" Edward asked while we ate.

"Shopping with Alice," I said with a grimace.

Alice spotted the grimace and smiled. "Oh, come on, Bella! Don't you want to see all of the cute little maternity clothes that they have?"

"Not really, because it will remind me of the fact that I'm getting fat and there's nothing I can do about it for the next five months," I said, putting another spoonful of cereal into my mouth. Even though I was over my morning sickness and all that lovely stuff that came with it, I still couldn't stand the sight, smell, or taste of eggs, so I stuck with cereal and toast for breakfast in the mornings.

"Shopping for maternity clothes? What brought this on?" Edward asked.

"Well, for one thing, Edward, your sister and my roommate over there has been dying for months to take me shopping for maternity clothes, and second of all, I couldn't button up my jeans this morning!" I said. "Why? Do you, too, think I'm getting fat?"

Edward could tell that my hormones were beginning to take a hold of me and did a very good thing of deciding to take a step backwards. "No, not at all, Bella."

I narrowed my eyes slightly and stared at him for a few seconds before looking away, tears burning behind my eyes. "Sorry for snapping at you, Edward. I'm just a little sensitive right now."

He kissed my cheek. "It's alright, Bella. I would be, too, if I couldn't fit into my jeans."

I snorted. "Yeah, this coming from one of the few people on earth who can eat an entire pizza and not gain an ounce."

~o~

"Oh, my god, my feet. Are we going to be done anytime soon?" I asked as I plopped down in a chair at one of the tables in the food court, resting my three bags of clothes at my feet on the floor, and setting my plate on the table in front of me.

Alice laughed as she sat down across from me, putting her three bags on the floor, and putting her food on the table as well. We both had gotten a piece of pizza for lunch. We had been shopping for the past hour and a half, and my feet were killing me. Honestly, if we weren't in the middle of a food court full of people, I would probably take off my shoes and socks and massage them right then and there.

"Well, we still have one more shop to stop at, and then we should be done," she replied.

As we ate, discussing our classes, we heard a voice call our names. We turned our heads to see Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory, two of the most annoying girls in existence and who adored Edward (for just his beauty), approaching our table. They each had a bag on their arms, and they were carrying trays of food.

Alice put on a smile and said, "Hi, Jessica. Hi, Lauren. What are two doing out here on this beautiful Saturday afternoon?"

"Shopping," Jessica replied.

That was when Lauren saw the bags at my feet – obviously seeing the name of the stores as well, because she said in a snooty voice, "Maternity Girl? Mother's Plus? Old Navy? Not just shopping for any old regular clothes, are you, Bella?"

Jessica, a wicked grin appearing on her face, said, "You know, Lauren, if I didn't know any better, I would say that Bella was a very bad girl and got herself into a sticky situation."

My cheeks got hot and I averted my eyes to my plate of pizza as I instinctively wrapped my unzipped sweater around myself in an attempt to hide my baby bump. Alice, being the best friend of mine that she was, narrowed her eyes and said, "It's none of your business, _Jessica_. And anyhow, what's it to you?"

The two girls shrugged. "Is Edward the father? I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't," Lauren sneered.

I had lost my appetite. All these months I had gone without thinking about James and now the vivid images of Thanksgiving broke through to the front of my brain – the images that I had so expertly hid in the back of my brain.

Obviously seeing that they had accomplished in embarrassing me, Jessica and Lauren made their good-byes and left, much to my relief.

"Bella? You okay?" Alice asked.

I nodded, placing a hand on my small baby bump. Somehow, oddly, I found that it calmed my senses by touching it.

"I'm fine. I just don't like being reminded about who the father of this baby is, that's all," I said.

Alice nodded in understanding, looking sympathetic.

Sensing that I was not really in the mood for shopping any longer, Alice suggested we cut our shopping trip short and head back to the college. Thankful, I agreed, and after finishing our lunch, we grabbed our bags and left.

~o~

"This feels _so_ nice," I exclaimed, leaning up against my pillows and massaging my feet.

Across the room, Alice laughed. "You and your pregnant feet. What are you going to do when your feet and ankles get all swollen from the pregnancy?"

"Not go on any shopping trips!" I said, just as there was a knock on the door. I raised my eyebrows at Alice, asking, "I wonder who that is?" I got off my bed and went to open the door.

I opened my mouth to say hello, but I cut myself off when I saw who it was.

"Hello, Bella."

**Author's Note:** I know, I know! I'm terrible for leaving you guys with a cliffhanger when I haven't updated for a couple of weeks! I've been busy and I haven't been able to write.

So, who do you think is at the door? I'll give you three guesses as to who it is and whoever is the closest, will receive a shout out from me in the next chapter!

Anyway, review review review review! I am not going to post the next chapter (which shall hopefully be up next week sometime) until I get at least five reviews. Oh, I want to thank everybody who reviewed the last chapter!

See you next time! Hershey Kiss Lover


	24. Author's Note: Not a chapter!

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: IMPORTANT!**

**Dear Readers:**

**I apologize profusely for not having updated in a long while. I have been struggling to finish up my high school career, along with working, and I've just been busy and still trying to feel better (I have a lot of stomach problems that prevent me from doing a lot of stuff).**

**I'm really hoping to be able to get writing again soon, but right now I need to focus on my school work, and my physical/emotional health. **

**Again, I am really sorry (especially since I kind of left you guys with a cliffhanger!), and I hope to update soon.**

**Hoping you haven't abandoned me,**

**Hershey Kiss Lover.**

**8/27/2011**


	25. Finding Out

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight.

Chapter Twenty-Three – Finding Out

_**Bella Swan**_

"M-Mrs. Kirby?" I stuttered.

"How are you doing, Bella?" she asked.

"Um, I'm doing well. Do you want to come in?" I asked, stepping aside and opening the door wider so she could come in.

Mrs. Kirby had been my social worker for the past ten years, ever since my parents died. Although she was kind of strict, she had a soft heart for all of the children she worked with. She had been my favorite person at the Social Services in Port Angeles, since she always comforted me whenever I needed it. She was a middle-aged woman, about fifty, with laugh lines and graying hair that was always pulled back into a bun.

Alice stood up from her bed and came over to greet Mrs. Kirby.

"Mrs. Kirby, this is Alice Cullen, my roommate. Alice, this is Mrs. Kirby. She was my social worker when I lived at the Social Services," I said as Alice shook hands with her.

"Nice to meet you, Alice," Mrs. Kirby said.

"So, what brings you here to Seattle?" I asked.

"Oh, I was here for a conference and just wanted to stop in, check up on how you're doing. We miss you over in Port Angeles, especially Elizabetta," she replied.

I smiled. Alice asked, "Who's Elizabetta?"

"Elizabetta's the seven year old who lives at the Social Services. I kind of took her under my wing while I was there," I said.

"Bella was great with the younger kids there," Mrs. Kirby said, smiling.

Alice grinned. "You were? I thought you were saying just a few months ago that you know nothing about babies?"

I shot her a warning glance to not blow it. Mrs. Kirby raised her eyebrows questioningly at me. I gave her a nervous smile back. In my defense, I said, "That's because there were no kids above the age of four there."

"She was sort of like the den mother to all of the younger kids. All of them looked up to her," Mrs. Kirby added.

Alice grinned. "That's so sweet! That can only mean that you'll be a great mother!"

"Alice!" I said, my face turning red from embarrassment.

My roommate slapped her hand over her mouth. "Whoops."

~o~

Mrs. Kirby left about an hour later.

As much as I didn't want to, I explained everything to her. I told her about what happened on Thanksgiving with James, and what had happened because of that. Surprisingly, she didn't force me to pack up my things, drop out of school, and move back to Port Angeles.

Instead, she said she would be dropping in every so often to check in on me, make sure how I was doing, and all of that.

"You know, Bella, everything happens for a reason. You're a strong girl; you always have been. I believe you can make it through," she told me just before she left.

When I shut the door behind her, I turned and went to collapse on my bed. I was _so _tired.

"So, she's a nice lady," Alice commented.

I smiled. "Yeah. She is. She can be kind of strict, though. But, she does have a heart for kids."

The next week went smoothly. I told Edward about Mrs. Kirby's visit, telling him that she would be checking in on my every once and a while, just to make sure I was alright.

Things sort of fell back into routine as April passed. I would wake up, meet up with everybody for breakfast, go to class, go to the library to do homework, and then head back to the dorm.

I would hang out with Edward every Friday night, just the two of us. We would go out to dinner or the movies, or take a walk around the grounds, and just be together. I liked it, and he liked it. Dr. Morris said that it was good for our relationship, which was strong regardless.

During the last week of April, the leaves were growing on the trees, giving a more green appearance, which was nice. Flowers were beginning to poke out of the ground, and birds were beginning to chirp more incessantly.

Near May was the start of my fifth month of pregnancy. My stomach was still small, but it was rounder. Alice and Rosalie called it the cutest baby bump they had ever seen on a woman. The boys were fascinated by it, especially Edward.

Edward was very sweet, and I could tell that he had begun to sprout some fondness towards the baby. For example, we had been studying in Alice's and mine dorm room one evening. I had kind of dozed off, and had awoken the touch of Edward's hand on my stomach.

Speaking to the baby.

Tears had come to my eyes, and I had wrapped my arms around him, leaning my head against his shoulder.

~o~

"So, Bella, when are you going to be able to find out what the gender of little jelly bean is?" Alice asked one morning at breakfast.

'Jelly bean' was the official nickname that Alice and everyone else and I had given the baby. I called it 'jelly bean', because it had looked like a jellybean on my very first ultrasound. I hadn't planned on calling it that, but it had sort of grown on me. Besides, it sounded kind of wrong to call the baby 'it'.

"Next appointment, which is" – I racked my brain for a moment – "tomorrow, actually! 2:30 in the afternoon."

Alice and Rosalie squealed. "Yes! Then we'll be able to call it by the gender as well!" Rosalie said.

"And go shopping for baby clothes!" Alice squealed.

Finding out the sex of the baby – exciting. Shopping for baby clothes – sort of exciting, sort of horrifying (when Alice and shopping were in the same sentence, nothing was good).

The next afternoon, Edward and I arrived at the hospital for my appointment. Alice was disappointed that she couldn't make it – she had a test in a class that wouldn't get out until after I had to be there. Edward, however, had a free afternoon, so he was more than willing to come along.

"So, are you excited about finding out the sex?" Edward asked as we sat down in the uncomfortable chairs in the waiting area.

I nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I am. It'll be cool to know what the sex is so I can stop calling it 'the baby' and 'jelly bean'."

Edward laughed.

We only had to wait a few minutes before my name was called. We followed the nurse into an examination room. After getting my weight, blood pressure, pulse, and all that stuff, she left, saying that Dr. Miser would be in shortly.

_**Edward Cullen**_

It was amazing to hear the sound of a baby's heartbeat through a machine. It was so miraculous.

Despite the way the baby had been created, I had developed a fondness for Bella's baby, and I couldn't wait to find out the sex.

Dr. Miser went through all the routine procedures for a fifth month check-up, asking Bella how she was feeling and all of that.

And then, finally, she said, "Would you two like to have a look at the baby?"

Bella and I nodded eagerly, and Dr. Miser smiled as she told Bella to hop up onto the examination table, lay back, and pull up her shirt to expose her stomach. After she turned on the machine, she applied some gel to Bella's round abdomen. Bella shivered from what I assumed was to be the cold gel.

We couldn't see anything at first, but within a moment, we could see, through the moving black and white fuzziness, the baby.

It was beautiful.

I looked at Bella, who was staring at the screen. I could see tears forming in her eyes.

"I think the baby has your nose, Bella," I said.

She laughed. "I think my ears, too."

"Would you like to know the sex, Bella?" Dr. Miser said, smiling.

She nodded eagerly.

It took Dr. Miser a moment, but finally, she said, "Congratulations! It's a girl!"

Bella smiled. "A baby girl," she whispered. Happiness and love were bursting from her eyes and mouth as she said this, not taking her eyes off the screen.

I kissed the side of her head.

"Looks like Jasper just got 50 bucks richer," I said.

Bella tore her eyes away from the screen and looked at me. "Sorry?"

I laughed. "Emmett, Jasper and I made a bet last night as to what the sex of the baby was going to be. We each put in 25 bucks. Emmett and I said it was going to be a boy, and Jasper said it was going to be a girl."

Bella shook her head, smiling. "You three bet on everything. Are you seriously going to subject your idiotic betting on a poor, innocent, little baby?"

I grinned.

All of a sudden, Bella gasped. "Oh, my god."

Concern settled on my face. "What? What is it?" I asked.

"I think … I think she just kicked!" Bella said. She grabbed my hand and placed it on her gel covered stomach.

I forgot all about the slime-y feeling gel on her belly when I felt a flutter and something that felt like a foot press gently against the palm of my hand. I goofy kind of grin appeared on my face.

"Was that the baby?" I asked.

Dr. Miser, Bella, and I looked at the screen, and sure enough, we saw the baby kicking her leg outwards – and I felt it.

Bella laughed, a couple of tears trickling down her cheeks.

As we sat, we watched and felt the baby kick.

And it truly was amazing.

**Author's Note:** Hey there! Let me just say that I am exceedingly sorry about not updating for a long time! I've been super busy with school, I quit my job, and the issues that I've been having with my stomach for the past several years are still there.

But, I have finally finished this chapter, and I am now going to post it.

Sorry if it seemed a little too rushed with the social worker scene, but I just wasn't quite sure what dialogue to put in that scene. But I hope Bella finding out the sex of the baby was enough to make up for it.

How many of you thought it was going to be a girl?

Anyway, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but I promise to try to not make you guys wait like two months or more to get it.

Thanks for hanging in there with me, those of you who are still reading!

Until Next Chapter!


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